


Beastly

by Nyvera



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Animagus, Animagus Harry Potter, Eventual Romance, F/M, Female Marauders (Harry Potter), Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, I Don't Even Know, Inspired by Crimson Peak (2015), Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Spells & Enchantments, The Marauder's Map
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:02:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26621833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyvera/pseuds/Nyvera
Summary: Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.When we least expect it, life sends us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back.This story follows a girl by the name of Accalia Sharpe and how her presence will influence the lives of the Marauders and their time at Hogwarts, and how Remus Lupin will find the love he never thought he deserved.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Remus Lupin/Original Female Character(s), Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter
Comments: 10
Kudos: 27





	1. A New Life

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is a little story I whipped up in my free time, I still dont have the entire plot lined out yet but I think thats the beauty of it. I currently have four chapters typed up and I hope to continue to write more. But that will work around my busy schedule, I hope to post at least once a week and see this story blossom into something beautiful. But enjoy! I will post the following chapters once a week as previously stated so if you like it stayed tune for more and don't forgot to like and bookmark the story. Can't wait what to see what you guys think of it!

Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.

When we least expect it, life sends us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. 

The change I speak of is death, the ever constant reminder of the frailty of human life. It chokes you in the night and marks you in ways you can never scrub away.

But I think, maybe, there is some validity in accepting that a part of you went with the person who died, and a part of them stayed with you.

The first hurdle though is always the worst, and it can change you in ways you least expect.

_ Denial. _

But denying the truth never changes the facts, and eventually, however, the denial turned into emptiness and my childhood ended.

The death of my parents marked a time in my life that spurred me forward into a future I didn't know if I was prepared for. I had to grow up very fast and make haste decisions about what course I wanted my life to take.

I still had my grandfather — my mother's father — he was a wealthy man of good intentions and had a heart that swelled with kindness. But even that couldn’t fill the emptiness that lingered in my heart. I knew I needed to make the next step in life, one I was not ready for but was waiting for me nonetheless.

America was no longer a place that felt like home, whispers followed me as I walked the halls of Ilvermorny at the end of my fourth year. 

It was always planned for me to transfer to Hogwarts starting my fifth year, just as my parents had. You see, the Sharpe family always believed in broadening your horizons. You start muggle school and train with your parents at home, then move on to either Hogwarts or Ilvermorny for your first four years then transfer to the later to finish your education. The age of eleven also marked the point in which a member of the Sharpe family would undergo the process of becoming an animagus, further understanding the vastness of true magical capabilities.

My grandfather loved to say that people had the right to an informed opinion, not an ignorant one. God forbid anyone from the noble house of Cushing or Sharpe be called ignorant.

So, as my father married my American mother, I started at Ilvermorny. 

I  _ hated  _ Ilvermorny.

It wasn’t the teachers or the school itself that I hated, but it was the restrictions MACUSA had upon the American wizarding world that drove me up the wall. Which in turn influenced the closed minded witches and wizards I went to school with to behave as  _ ignorantly _ as they did.

There was no class that I didn’t excel at, but my proclevity always leaned toward the care of magical creatures. Which already put a larger target on my pureblood back. Adding the death of my parents only fueled the fire of gossip and teasing that comes with being from a well known family.

I was ready to leave, but did so with a heavy heart.

My grandfather couldn't come with me being that he was a Cushing and belonged in America, but he was also a reputable business man from a long line of pureblood ancestry and so held a heavy hand at MACUSA.

Which meant that I would be moving to the estate that was left to me under my fathers name, being the only Sharpe left that hadn't been disowned or sent to the loony bin, it fell to me as the rightful heir.

Allerdale Hall.

The gothic Victorian home loomed over the english countryside, and resided along the outskirts of the little village of Godric’s Hollow. 

Many of the town's residents claim it to be haunted due to the unfortunate events regarding my paternal grandmother and aunt. But the minute I took the large keyring from my coat pocket and opened the doors, it felt like home. For the first time in a long time I felt the presence of my mother and father once more swell back into my life, the portraits and photos of my family and descendants gave me a sense of peace, as if I wasn’t alone.

I only removed the photos of one woman from the walls, asking my house elf Minny to dispose of them.

Minny was a kind soul hired by my father to take care of the estate while we resided in America for the first fourteen years of my life, the free elf was more than happy to stay on and help me take care of the house while I transfered and attended Hogwarts. My first night back she told me many stories about my mother and father when they were my age, the detail in which she told them made me feel as if they were still around and would walk in on us any minute laughing at the stories just as I did.

But it was just me and Minny.

The start of the nineteen-seventy five school year was one I was nervously awaiting. The death of my parents didn’t quite make as big of headlines in Europe due to the brewing war that was bubbling in England, so I hoped it wouldn’t follow me here. At least for a while.

My first trip to Diagon Alley was what I had always dreamed it to be, and as Minny and I collected and purchased all my school books and supplies I felt like my life was moving towards a clearer future. Purchasing my wand from Olivanders made me so giddy I had to hold back a squeal I wanted to screech at the sight of the store. Sadly, in America underage wizards were not allowed to take their wands with them outside of school so with a heavy heart I had to leave my original one behind at Ilvermorny where it would no doubt have been discarded.

Mr. Olivander seemed excited to see me once I entered his chaotic shop, his cheshire grin spreading manically across his old face. He told me about how my mother and father had bought their wands from him and even remembered them in exact detail. 

The wand I ended up with that morning was made of ash wood with a unicorn hair core, measuring in fourteen inches and hard flexibility. The wand itself was beautiful and unique just like all wands from Olivanders, the tip of the wand was black almost as if the wood seemed burned as it bleed into the ash colored wood that had vines swirling down to the pommel which held a amethyst orb at the end captured by said vines. It was more than I could hope for.

All this led up to the fateful day I would take the Hogwarts Express for the first time.

The feeling of Minny aparating us to the platform only increased the butterflies that fluttered in my stomach, this was it, my new beginning.

“Now you have all your books? Everything you’ll need?” Minny’s kind voice squeaked as she patted my hand.

The nervousness I felt soaked through my voice as I responded, “I-I think so.”

“Well, if you forgot anything just send Jareth with a letter and I’ll make sure it gets to you.” Minny smiled brightly.

All I could do was nod my head with a gulp, turning to making sure Jareth — my family owl — was indeed in his cage on top of my suitcase.

“Off you pop then, don’t want you missing the train.” Minny patted my hand once more before the whistle of the train sounded the last call to board.

“Bye Minny, see you at Christmas.” I gave a small smile to the house elf as I waved goodbye, handing my suitcase and Jareth off to one of the workers to be stode away till I reached Hogwarts.

Once aboard the train I walked slowly through the corridors, eyes flashing into each of the compartments to try and find one that was empty or near empty. Luckily I found one in my fifth-year section and shuffled in closing the door behind me softly.

Once nestled inside I managed to look out the window and find Minny in the crowd waving as the train started to take off.

The bittersweet moment though was interrupted as you saw a group of rowdy looking boys chasing the departing train, it seemed they weren’t going to make it but they all managed to jump on at the last second before they ran out of platform. I could only shake my head at their reckless behavior before pulling a book out of my purse, quickly wanting to be absorbed into a welcoming distraction from the nerves I felt at the prospect of a new school.

I was whisked away into my thirty-second time of reading  _ ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’  _ when loud footfalls could be heard from outside my compartment, before the telltale clicking of the handle and sliding of the door almost made me groan out in annoyance.

I didn’t even bother looking up from my book as male voices seemed to be arguing with each other.

“Who is that?”

“I dunno.” 

“Well, what house is she in?”

“I dunno.”

“How do you not know, Padfoot? Haven’t you flirted with nearly every girl in our year?”

“Not all of them apparently.”

“Well, maybe I should change that.”

“How about we just ask nicely to sit with her-” 

The last voice was interrupted as an unknown figure strode into my compartment. Their shoes were expensive but horribly scuffed, as if the person wearing them wanted to appear as if they couldn’t care less.

“What is a beautiful creature like yourself doing here sitting all alone?” the voice that belonged to the banged up shoes certainly spoke with an air of confidence.

I counted four distinct voices from their previous conversation as I flipped to the next page, not bothering to look up from my book — I only muttered my bored answer.

“Trying to read in silence, but it seems as if that plan failed miserably.”

The cocky boy with banged up shoes didn't seem to be phased by my blunt answer as he plopped down on the bench seats across from me, the others following suit but still silent.

“An American! You must be a transfer student then. Fancy that eh Prongs?” 

Prongs? What’s that supposed to mean?

As I finally dared a glance over my book, I was met by the face of the boy with banged up shoes. He was what most people would describe as handsome, long black hair and grey eyes. His chiseled features told me that he did in fact come from a well off family like mine, most likely pureblood.

The other boy which I realized he called ‘ _ Prongs _ ’ after a nudge and a bright smile looked just as well off as his counterpart. This boy though had a tamed set of dark brown curls upon his head, and blue eyes shining with mischief behind a pair of glasses. Another pureblood possibly.

“I never met an American before, you must have gone to Ilvermorny before this right?” the boy with glasses said with a cheeky smile.

Knowing I would never get back to my book with these boys here I firmly slapped it shut before responding with an even tone, “I have dual citizenship actually, and yes I did attend Ilvermorny.”

“That’s so cool! But you’ll soon find out Hogwarts is the best!” a new voice spoke up.

I turned my head to the new voice sitting beside the one with glasses, his eyes quickly left mine and looked to the floor as if he wasn't used to speaking up much. He was rather short and mousy in stature, with a short crop of sandy hair and what I thought I caught were hazel eyes. 

I raised my shoulders into a small shrug at his statement, “I hope so, I didn’t have the best experience at Ilvermorny.” 

“Well, we can help you with that.” the cocky boy winked. 

I was half tempted to scrunch my nose up at his horrible attempt to flirt but managed a slight smile instead.

The boy took this as an invitation to take my hand in his, planting a chaste kiss to my knuckles before introducing himself.

“The name is Black, Sirius Black.”

I immediately had to fight the urge to take my hand away from his. The Black family was notorious for being pureblood supremacists, and supporters of the rising dark faction in the wizarding world. But a small part of me, the part that knew rumors and speculation could paint you into someone you're not, wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Great to meet you.” I said with a tight lipped smile.

The one with glasses practically pushed Sirius off of me before taking my hand in his.

“James Potter, at your service.” his cheeky grin never slipped from his face and I could tell from that moment that he was a troublemaker.

I had heard of the Potters before, most pureblood families were very well aware of each other as our numbers started to dwindle over the few generations. But they always seemed like a good lot, from what my mother had told me was that they come from a long line of Gryffindors. 

He dropped my hand before motioning to the shy boy next to him, “That there is Peter Pettigrew.”

Peter, waved his hand in a small greeting towards me, I gave a small nod of acknowledgement in return before remembering that there was one more that I had yet to notice or have the pleasure of being introduced to.

His voice drew me in even before I even took notice of him.

“R-Remus, Remus Lupin.” the voice sounded warm, but scared.

As I turned to match a face to the name, I was met only with the profile of a taller boy with messy brown hair, his eyes looking elsewhere as he fiddled with the oversized sweater he was wearing. I thought I saw the slight rise of skin across his face before the voice of Sirius Black drew my gaze once more.

“What lovely name might we call you?”

I held my breath not knowing what kind of reaction I would be met with, holding Sirius’ gaze for a moment too long as I mulled it over on my bottom lip.

“Accalia Sharpe.”

The silence that drew from those words seemed deafening. It was now Sirius’ turn to try and hide a scowl that threatened to cross his face. I looked out the window sensing instantly the same feeling I had around my peers at Ilvermorny, I couldn’t escape the stigma after all could I?

James’ voice quickly cut through the eerie silence though as if he just remembered something, his eyes going wild with excitement.

“Sharpe, as in pureblood  _ Allerdale Hall _ Sharpe?”

I could honestly say I was surprised by his eagerness, almost wanting to believe his joy was true.

“Uh-yeah, yeah that’s me.”

His eyes sparkled further with the information, “That’s bloody brilliant! Is it true your house is haunted?”

My stomach sunk a little at James’ words. Another part of my past drudged up.

“No, it’s not.” I managed through gritted teeth, my hands balling into fists on my dress.

James seemed to notice this almost instantly though, running a hand sheepishly through the back of his hair.

“I didn’t mean to upset you, I just grew up on stories about that place. No ones lived their in —”

“—in fifteen years, I know.” I finished for him, my fifteenth birthday only being two months away.

James had the decency to look sheepish at his outburst, “Looks like we are neighbors then.”

I couldn’t help the small smile that came to my face, while I wasn’t keen on the idea of these boys knowing at least a small part of my families history, at least one of them seemed excited rather than disgusted.

The latter didn't seem as convinced as his friend was though as Sirius decided that a game of twenty questions was the only way to satiate his mind.

“Muggleborns and Half-bloods must make you sick.”

James almost seemed as if he was about to tell Sirius off before I held a hand up to silence him, looking Sirius dead in the eye as I answered him.

“On the contrary, diversity is the only way we grow as a society.”

Sirius merely squinted his eyes at me as if he didn’t quite believe my words. The boys around me could feel the tense air and shifted in their seats uncomfortably.

“Well you must not like poor families very much, your outfit alone could pay for my school supplies till the end of seventh year.”

My hand found themselves getting balled up once more, trying to contain my anger, “My parents always believed in the traditional way of dressing, trust me, I’ve dreamed of what it must feel like to wear jeans and a baggy sweater.”

True my parents never bought me what other kids described as normal clothes but that wasn't exactly my choice.

Sirius hummed in thought as if he was starting to take me for my word, and I almost let the breath I was holding out.  _ Almost. _

That was until Sirius decided he had one more question, one that I admittedly reacted to rather poorly.

“Surely, you must hate Half-Breeds. Werewolves probably being the worst, you probably think they are better off dead—”

Sirius never got to finish his sentence as a resounding  _ smack  _ flooded the compartment, I couldn't help the involuntary action that just flooded through me at his words. Sirius’ down casted face was still turned towards the glass as a red print spread over his cheek.

I slowly lowered my shaking hand, holding back the tears that threatened to spill over in my eyes.

“You have no idea who I am. I don't speak for the integrity of your family Mr. Black, so don't you dare speak for mine!” I hissed out before leaving the compartment in a rage filled frenzy, barely containing my tears as I made it to the bathroom. I didn’t let myself cry, it wasn’t worth it to let the words of one boy ruin my day or ruin my chance at a fresh start at Hogwarts.

But what I didn’t know was that I had left my book in the compartment, laying open on the page about werewolves. Remus Lupin took the book gingerly in his hands as his eyes scanned the various notes about lycanthropy. Much of the rest of the book was filled out with various notes about many of the creatures in the wizarding world.

“Way to go Padfoot.” Remus voiced his disappointment with his friend, showing Sirius a glance at the book before taking it with him.

“Moony, I’m sorry. I just had to be sure she wouldn’t be a danger to you.” Sirius’ voice begged Remus to understand.

“I gotta go. Prefect duties.” 

With that Remus left the compartment and his friends, only managing to catch a glimpse of Accalia Sharpe’s ebony hair as she entered a different compartment.


	2. Arrival at Hogwarts

The cold Scottish air bit at my nose as I curled into myself to stay warm. I didn’t have my school uniform yet as I would have to wait till I was sorted to get my clothes. So I stuffed my hands into the pockets on my dress and pulled my hair over my neck and ears. It wasn’t very effective but it was better than nothing.

I followed the older students to carriages being pulled by thestrals. To my utter surprise the other students seemed oblivious to them, but then again, maybe it wasn’t that ridiculous at all. Not many people have been a witness to death after all.

I waited as group after group piled into the carriages, only receiving a few odd looks from students as I was not in uniform yet. But they shrugged and went on their way, talking about what they did over summer and sharing new gossip as teenagers do.

The only person I saw as I waited for the crowd to thin out so I could find a carriage was a girl I had met briefly on the train after my encounter with the four boys.

Lily Evans.

She seemed like a feisty girl with strong opinions and I liked that about her. But as she was about to wave me over to the last spot on her carriage, a familiar looking boy with glasses launched himself into her carriage, affectionately calling her ‘ _ Lils’. _

The scene honestly made me laugh at Lily’s obvious annoyance with the boy but it was too late for her to push him off as the carriage started to pull them away.

“Oi! Traitor!”

The humor filled moment was turned icy as the familiar voice of Sirius Black filled my ears.

The moment his eyes met my annoyed gaze I quickly turned away, waiting for the next carriage to pull up.

I hoped desperately that he would get the hint that I wanted nothing to do with him and his arrogant personality, but when did I ever get what I wanted?

“Sharpe.” Sirius’ voice sounded from next to me.

“What?” I couldn't help but snap at the boy.

With the mixture of the cold night air and the returning anger inside of me, my patience was very thin.

He visibly flinched at my tone managing to look ashamed, which shocked my observant eye.

Remus and Peter managed to nudge Sirius toward me as he groaned before saying, “Look, I'm sorry alright? I was a bit of a dick, I know that. But I’m sure you’re all too aware of how pureblood families act. I had to be sure you weren’t like that.”

I turned to face him, my hands still stuffed in my pockets as I eyed him suspiciously.

“Why would it matter if I was or not?”

His words seemed to die in his throat as he turned to his friends for help, who in turn looked around at anything but him almost whistling to themselves.

The sight almost made a smile tug at the corners of my mouth,  _ almost. _

It seemed Remus decided to take pity on Sirius as he put a hand on his friend's shoulder, finally coming into the light of a nearby lamppost.

“We are activists of a sort, you know equal opportunity for all people?” his nervous gaze hoped that I would buy his excuse. 

I couldn’t help but observe the boy in front of me now for the first time. He had a kind face marred by a set of three diagonal claw marks, which upon him noticing my staring looked at his shoes. For now I accepted their excuse, if only to forgive and forget and try to start over. And to make up for making Remus obviously uncomfortable.

“I get it. I forgive you, but you owe me.” I say, poking a finger at Sirius’ chest before stuffing my cold hand back into my pocket.

Sirius’ gaze softened, happy to have that awkward mess over with as the four of us decided to huddle into the last carriage.

Sirius and Peter started into a long conversation about all the food they would be stuffing into their faces as soon as the carriage started rolling. With the carriage being open to the elements, there was nothing to protect me against the wind as we moved forward. I had to clamp my eyes shut in an attempt to try and focus on something other than the fact I was sure I was going to die of hypothermia before reaching the castle.

But as I was dwelling on my impending doom, a warmth enveloped around my shoulders and face. The rich smell of old books and cocoa invaded my senses and the hands that wrapped the object around me felt warm. When they left I had to try not to follow their warmth, lest I embarrass myself in front of the boys I had just met.

When I opened my eyes upon their retreat, I looked at Remus sitting beside me, his cheeks flushed with what I assume was the cold as I just realized he dropped his red and gold scarf around me. I felt bad that I must have looked so cold that he would take part of his only warmth to help me not freeze to death.

“Thank you, Remus. Are you sure you’re not too cold?” I ask as I snuggle further into the scarf, allowing it to go all the way up to my nose.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine. I run a bit hot anyways.” Remus stuttered out, running a shaky hand through his hair nervously.

Sirius made a show of looking around before pulling out his wand and casting  _ incendio _ . A small fireball sat in front of the four of us floating like a little portable heater. Luckily no one popped out and scolded Sirius for using underage magic before making it to the school, allowing us all to hold up our hands to the little fire and taking in what warmth we could.

Once the castle came into full view, I couldn't help the sound of amazement that came tumbling out of my mouth. Hogwarts was beautiful, especially during the night. The boys all seemed to smile at my childish wonder at the gorgeous castle, but I couldn’t help it.

Remus surprised me further by holding out his hand for me as we all hopped off the carriage, I took it gratefully since my legs felt numb from the cold.

Sirius though thought it made for the perfect opportunity to tease his friend.

“Moony, your chivalry knows no bounds!” Sirius said in a high pitched voice, trying to sound like a damsel in distress as he threw his arm dramatically over his face as he took his friend's hand in his own, allowing Remus to help him down before falling in his arms dramatically.

“Oh shut up.” Remus said, his face flushing once more but out of embarrassment before pushing Sirius away from him.

Once the four of us were inside we all let out audible hums at the warmth of the castle, quickly making our way up the corridor to what they told me was the Great Hall, where all of us would have our meals and where I would be sorted into my house.

All of them were saying how they hoped I would be in Gryffindor, wearing their colors proudly as they talked about their house fiercely. But being a Horned Serpent at Ilvermorny, I had a pretty good idea about which house I was going to be sorted into.

Once the four of us reached the doors, we were stopped by a woman in a pointy hat, her aged features firm but kind. 

“Misters Black, Pettigrew, Lupin. Thank you for escorting Miss Sharpe here. You may leave her with me and the First Years.”

Sirius threw a puppy dog face at who I assumed was one of the professors here at Hogwarts.

“Awww, Minnie. Can’t she just sit with us?”

The woman only showed the barest hint of amusement on her face before shuffling them away.

“You know the rules Mr. Black, she must be sorted into her house.”

As they were shuffled away they whisper-shouted phrases of good luck and well wishes before the doors to the Great Hall were firmly shut behind them.

I stood by the Professor as she laid out the rules to the first year students about the various houses and how you earn and lose points, I already knew this due to it being similar at Ilvermorny. But I listened all the same as she explained things before turning to me in hushed tones.

“You my dear will wait on just the other side of the doors, once the first years are all called up and sorted, we will call you up, understood?”

I simply nodded my head in understanding at her words, returning the small smile she gave me.

As the doors flew open I could only gaze in awe as the small first years followed the Professor into the hall. I did as I was told and stood by the doors next to a grizzled man and his cat who only barely gave me a passing glance before groaning at my proximity.

I could only guess he must be one of the caretakers at the school based on the sizable key ring at his waist and his grouchy demeanor. But I was quickly distracted from his rude behavior as I examined the room. At first glance it seemed almost imposing and to small children such as the first years it must be, but to someone older it seemed quite comfortable, not too big but not too small to seem insignificant.

As the sorting went on, various students cast their questioning glances at me, obviously waiting for when it would be explained why I was here. I ignored their glances as I observed the children being sorted, from what I could guess, each year it wasn't ever a determined amount of kids that would be sorted into each house. It seemed to range from an average of five to ten kids to be sorted into each house, I knew from the fact that I had been accepted to Hogwarts that they had room for me in their fifth year so there must have been a smaller number of students in my year than they expected.

After all the first years were sorted I felt my breath catch in my throat, who I learned to be Professor Dumbledore upon his introduction gave a small greeting to the first years before his eyes found me at the back of the hall.

“But, we still have one more student to sort. An exchange student all the way from our sister school in America, Ilvermorny. I’d like you all to give a warm welcome to Miss Accalia Sharpe.” Dumbledore's voice echoed through the halls as he extended his arm out in greeting beckoning me forward towards where the professor from before stood with the Sorting Hat.

I felt all eyes turn towards me as I walked forward, I could tell that some knew my family's name but said nothing. It was mostly from the Slytherin table that I caught a lot of smiles in my direction, as if they were sure to gain another pureblood to their ranks. But as I continued forward I heard whistles from the Gryffindor table causing me to blush, but I held my head high knowing that it was those troublesome boys trying to embarrass me.

It wasn’t till one I recognized as James Potter not so subtly shouted ‘ _ nice scarf _ ’ did I remember that I was still wearing Remus’ scarf. Quickly causing me to unloop it from my neck and fold nervously in my hands as I made my way to the front listening to my peers small chuckles. I made a mental note to slap James on the back of the head next time I saw him for embarrassing me.

Once I sat down on the stool, it felt as if a million eyes were on me, the Sorting Hat sat lightly on my head but it felt heavy as it entered into my mind, judging my every decision in life.

“Ah, a Sharpe. Very mixed family when it comes to houses.” the hat mulled this over out loud as it read my every thought.

“Father a Slytherin, Mother a Gryffindor, Grandfather a Hufflepuff. Very interesting.” 

I wanted to cringe as it went on, thankful it didn’t bring up the part of my family I would rather not be brought to light. 

“But you’re different aren’t you? A bird wanting to spread its wings and prove itself. Very smart and resourceful. Knowledge and wisdom beyond your years.”

I knew where I belonged, but that didn't mean I wasn't sad to not be with people that seemed like they could become good friends.

“Ravenclaw!” the hat finally shouted, confirming my guess as to where I would be sorted.

The Ravenclaw table burst into cheers at gaining another member, the prefects shaking my hand as I sat down at an empty spot among the fifth years. Luckily for me though it seemed fate wanted to give me some sort of peace as I sat just across from where the boys were sat at the Gryffindor table. All of them were smiling, though a bit sad knowing I wasn't in Gryffindor.

After the feast was over and I stuffed myself with the most amazing food imaginable, I followed my fellow Ravenclaws to my dormitory noting that the door in question had no door handle or lock. Only a brass raven adorned the door and asked its question to the first student, once answered correctly it swung open and proceeded to let all Ravenclaws into the dormitory.

There was no doubt that the dormitory was beautiful, lined with all the books I could ever imagine, but it felt a little too pristine for my taste. The room which the seventh year prefect led me to was just as immaculate, the marble floor polished so brightly that I could see my reflection in it. Once inside I found my trunk on what was deemed to be my bed and a note saying that Jareth was assigned a spot in the owlery for him to call home. 

I folded and hung all my clothes and uniform in my dresser and wardrobe before the rest of my roommates tumbled in. They all introduced themselves to me quickly before ignoring my existence to talk about their summers and classes they would have, they all seemed to be pretty and intelligent girls. But they didn’t really seem like the type of crowd I would normally fit in with. They talked as if I wasn’t in the room and seemed to spread gossip like wildfire, but they didn’t seem snooty.

It wasn’t long after that, that I crawled into bed with a book and looked over my schedule for the term. Tomorrow started with Charms, followed by Potions, Transfiguration, and then ended with Herbology. 

I tried desperately to fall asleep that night, but nothing I could do could lull me into that beautiful state of unconsciousness that I desired. Tomorrow was definitely going to be a coffee fueled day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter as promised! I currently have eight chapters written and will be writing more later today as well, so hopefully that gives you guys something to look forward to. Of course I would love to hear your thoughts about the story thus far and what Houses each of you belong to. I myself am a Ravenclaw just like Accalia!


	3. A Bargain

I could barely remember what I had for breakfast as I drug my feet towards Charms class, the sound of my shuffling feet making me feel as if I had turned into a zombie. 

Once I had found a seat near the back, I plopped my books down and fell into my seat. Now, on any other day, such an act would be deemed unlady like. But then again, with my parents gone it wasn’t as if I had to strive to keep up appearances anymore. 

I could only dwell on the melancholy thought before I heard the boisterous noise that followed four boys. James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus. They all seemed so carefree in their own way, as if life would never get better than the years that they spent at Hogwarts. Before I could try to shrink myself in my seat in an attempt to avoid said rabble-rousers, Sirius caught my annoyed gaze.

“There’s our little house traitor!” Sirius said with a sly grin on his face, the boys following him to sit in the very last row behind me.

“I was hoping we had a few classes together.”

Sirius’ words seemed sincere at first, but the glint in his eyes spoke mischief.

I merely squinted my eyes at his words, “You’re scheming something.”

James gave a bright smile, laughing as Sirius’ charming façade faltered.

“Oh, he's always scheming something. But we have something specific in mind that you would be perfect for.”

I turned to James with a cocked eyebrow, I had to admit the prospect sounded like a nice distraction, but I couldn't let them know that. I had to make them work for it didn’t I?

But before James could open his mouth about his brilliant scheme, Professor Flitwick strolled into class gathering everyone's attention as he started to speak.

“Today, I would like to start out the new term with a gauge on each of your dueling skills. That way we can narrow down each of your weaknesses and hopefully correct them before your end of year O.W.L.’s.”

I had to admit I was slightly nervous at the prospect of duels in front of the class, not because I was embarrassed or scared, but because I had no idea what level of dueling most of my classmates were at. 

“Now, why don’t we start with…”

I had that gut feeling about who the professor would choose, knowing that being the new kid always singles you out in a crowd.

“Ms. Sharpe! I know we would all be interested to see the skills that were taught to you at Ilvermorny.”

I could only manage a tight lipped smile as I slowly rose out of my chair, this ought to be interesting.

“And how about…” Professor Flitwick mulled over his options slowly.

There were hoots and hollers from the four boys that seemed intent on driving themselves into my life, and Flitwick seemed to be trying to weigh out his other options before sighing.

“Mr. Lupin, being as you are a Prefect, I think you’ll make a good challenge.”

The look on Remus’ face was priceless, being the only one of the boys that didn’t have his arm outstretched at the prospect of dueling with me. But he was a good sport and came down, barely able to keep eye contact with me for more than two seconds without looking away.

“Very good. Now both of you get in positions and begin when you’re ready.”

Remus and I met in the middle of the room, bowing to each other.

“I-if you need me to go easy-” Remus began before I let out an airy laugh.

“Don’t you dare. Give me everything you got Remus, I think I can handle it.” I said with a sly wink, causing Remus flush slightly at my jab.

The small smile that crossed his face told me that he would give me a run for my money, I always did love a good challenge. 

Not long after, we turned from each other and began to walk ten paces away before getting into our chosen stances.

I favored the Gilded Stance for the simple fact that it challenged me more than the Traditional or Cobra stance that most students used, and apparently Flitwick seemed immediately interested in this before he counted to three for us.

Not wanting to scare Remus, I let him take the first few moves, observing the strength of his stance and looking for any holes in his form, blocking his spells nonverbally. This seemed to cause Remus to furrow his eyebrows, concentrating harder on his spell work. But before he could utter another charm my way I struck, causing him to falter backwards a bit.

My non-dominant hand stayed firmly on my hip as I lashed out my spells nonverbally, I took great pride in my dueling and wanted to show a bit of what I could do. The first thing my father always taught me was to never show your entire hand, keep your opponent guessing. Remus though seemed pretty familiar with the base set of spells I sent his way, content that he could keep up. I continued with the more advanced spells, allowing him to gain some footing before continuing my onslaught.

Remus seemed to get nervous as I continued the duel nonverbally, from what I could tell from my peripheral view, most of our classmates seemed to stiffen at my wand work. I immediately knew that like most other students I worked with, they knew what they needed to get good passing grades in the class and not much else. Remus was giving me a good fight though, not letting my calm but aggressive tactics get to him, doing what he could to deflect my spells to the best of his abilities. 

But all good things come to an end, after letting Remus get in a few spells of his own I decided it was time to bring the duel to an end. Before Remus could cast his next spell I sped up to my true casting ability and distracted him with ‘ _ bombarda’  _ before quickly sending out  _ ‘depulso’. _

Remus was sent flying backwards with the combined force of the two spells. But before he could go flying further, I stopped him with the classic  _ ‘wingardium leviosa’ _ , the shocked sounds around the room told me that my classmates were sure he would go flying through the window.

I lowered Remus to the floor with a smirk as I heard the many exhales of nervous breath. I thought Remus would look at me like many of my peers at Ilvermorny did, with fear and or jealousy, but he didn’t. He surprised me further by breaking out into a smile, the boys in the back row whistling loudly and clapping, causing me to blush.

“Well done! Mr. Lupin, Ms. Sharpe, that was very good indeed!” Flitwick clapped with the boys before gesturing to us to take our seats again.

The minute we sat down they started whispering to me.

“Ilvermorny really taught its students to duel like that?!” Sirius said with big eyes.

I couldn't help the small chuckle that left my mouth, “No, from what I see it's very much the same here but my father was always very adamant about continuing my training outside of school. He was a very good teacher.”

“Bloody Hell, I’d say so.” James looked absolutely excited about it.

“I could help you guys practice if you’d like?” I offered, most kids were too embarrassed to take up my offer but the boys seemed very eager.

They all nodded their heads eagerly, causing me to let out another laugh as they all looked like a bunch of bobbleheads.

Class went by quickly as I watched my fellow students duel, James and Sirius were pitted up against each other and it was the longest duel of the class period. Both of them blasting each other across the room ending in a stalemate, they all held so much promise and I was honestly excited about helping them train up a bit. They would make great opponents in the future.

When class was dismissed, Professor Flitwick called me over, letting me escape from the boys for a few minutes, but I was sure they would be waiting for me outside. 

“Yes, sir?” I asked the professor once I approached him.

“Ms. Sharpe, your dueling is impeccable. Was Ilvermorny offering you advanced classes?”

I let a bashful smile across my face before shaking my head ‘no’.

“No, sir. My father and mother always liked continuing my schooling during the summer. But I was Captain of the dueling team at Ilvermorny.”

Flitwick’s eyes lit up at that, “I see! You know, our dueling team is looking for a new captain, I think you would be perfect.”

I couldn't restrain my toothy grin at the idea, “Really? I’d love to!”

Flitwick seemed just as excited at the idea, “Great, oh and another thing.”

I cocked my head to the side, wondering what else he could be wanting.

“I have yet to choose the female Prefect for your fifth year class, from your grades that were sent over from Ilvermorny and your obvious proficiency in almost every subject I thought you would make the obvious choice.”

At that my eyes glazed over in shock. Professor Flitwick wanted  _ me _ to be a Prefect?

Flitwick grinned at my nervous posture as he continued, “I will admit though that I had yet to choose a female Prefect simple due to the fact that Teagin Oliver, the male Prefect for your year, has a certain—effect on the female students. But I don’t see that being a problem with you.”

I couldn't hold back my excitement as I took out Flitwick's outstretched hand, shaking it with enthusiasm before pulling it back to find a Ravenclaw Prefect’s pin in my hand.

“I won't let you down, sir.” was all I could manage in response before Flitwick dismissed me with his own smile.

I was practically buzzing when I left the classroom, not even feeling affected by the tiredness my body felt or the fact that the boys bombarded me the minute I stepped out.

“What took you so long—! Oi, look at this someone's got a shiny new badge!” Sirius said as he threw an arm around my shoulder before using his sleeve to polish the small pin.

I nudged his arm off as I tucked a lock of black hair behind my ear.

“Oh shut up. Now what was it that you guys wanted to talk to me about?”

“Don’t be mad, but I nicked your schedule when you were dueling Moony.” Sirius said with a flourish as he represented my schedule to me like a cheap magician.

I couldn’t help the furrow of my brow that formed, snatching my schedule from the boy with a huff.

James’s normal mischievous face grew nervous only for a flash of a second before he wrung his hands together.

“I know we just met and everything but I have a favor to ask, Sharpe.”

To say I was intrigued was an understatement.

“A favor? And here I was thinking I was going to be pulled into some nonsensical prank.” I said as I gestured for James to go on.

I watched as his blue eyes chased after a crop of brilliant red hair, following the slender form of Lily Evans as she laughed with her friends.

My mouth slowly formed into a smirk as I realized what he was trying to ask me.

“Let me guess, this has to deal with Lily Evans?”

James’s eyes snapped back to mine with a dumbfounded look.

“You know Evans?”

“I met with her briefly, after our  _ incident _ on the train she kindly let me sit with her and another boy.” I said briefly.

The sound of disgusted noise rang around me, all except from Remus.

“Snivellus.” Sirius had hissed out, a shiver of disgust rolling down his spine.

I only cocked my eyebrow before shaking my head.

“I’m not going to even ask what that is about, but yes me and Lily are acquaintances you could say.”

James’s eyes lit up at the words that tumbled from my mouth, that mischievous grin appearing to his face once more.

“That’s brilliant, all the more reason for her to trust you.”

I couldn't ignore the feeling of doubt that swirled in my stomach at the way these boys looked at me like vultures, what evil schemes were they concocting in the abyss of their minds?

Sirius threw an arm around James before continuing with what exactly they wanted with me.

“Look, you’re a girl. We need someone on the inside of the female psyche to help our dear Prongs here.”

The cogs in my mind started to turn violently, the cacophony of sound grating my very nerves.

And what was with their weird nicknames?

“Hold on, you want me to make nice with Lily just so I can give James advice on—what? How to talk to a girl?”

“Not just any  _ girl _ !” James started, a doe-eyed starry look coming across his features as he imagined the redhead in his mind.

“ _ Thee  _ girl.”

The stifled laugh I tried to turn into a cough drew James from his fantasy, an embarrassed look coming to his smooth features.

I understood immediately the situation at hand, James must have been in love with Lily Evans but for some reason or another his previous actions had failed to gain the woman's attention.

“And what in your previous interactions with her has led you to ask a perfect stranger to help you?”

“Unlike Sirius, James is shite with the girls.” Peter sniggered out, causing James to glare daggers at the tawny boy.

“Look, James doesn’t have the best reputation with Evans. And Moony has refused to use his powers as Prefect alongside Lily to help. We just need someone to help nudge the idea that he's not completely a waste of her time.” Sirius finished.

I pretended to think about it for a moment, my index finger tapping my pursed lips softly as I hummed. Enjoying as the boys all waited with baited breath and fingers crossed. Remus though seemed more interested with the simple curiosity of if I would help them or not.

“Alright.” 

Three of the four boys let out loud cheers and pumped their fists towards the sky in victory before I held up a finger. Silencing them briefly.

“On one condition. James now owes me a favor along with Sirius.”

James eagerly grabbed my hand in his as he shook it vigorously. 

“Of course! Anything.”

“Okay, so after Potions and Transfiguration, you'll ask Lily to be your partner in Herbology. It’s the only class she doesn’t have with Snivellus so he won’t be hanging off her arm.” Sirius laid out the plan as if he was a general laying out a battle plan.

I gave a small smile at their simple plan, “Fine.”

But my face faltered slightly when a thought came to my mind, “Wait, exactly how many classes do we all have together?”

Sirius smirked as he threw a heavy arm around my shoulder, leading the group forward down the hall towards Potions class as he pulled me in.

“All of them.” the smirk on his face told me he was being dead serious with that deviant look in his eyes.

With the quick ruffle of my hair Sirius let me go as he took up the front of the group with James as they started talking about a prank they had planned for later, I fell back behind the group as a dazed look came across my face. 

“There is no way my luck is that bad.”

“Could be worse, could’ve been sorted into Gryffindor with the rest of us.” a soft voice sounded from next to me.

The sound of Remus’ voice spurred me forward once more as I joined Remus behind the group.

“I suppose, but at least I would have some potential friends.” I couldn’t hold back the crestfallen sound in my voice.

Remus stuffed his hands in his pockets as he cast a small glance my way before looking at his friends backs once more.

“No luck with your roommates?”

I shook my head wistfully, my hair brushing my cheeks.

“Nah, they prefer to act like I don’t exist. Not that they’re mean but I think they know I’m not like them.”

Remus nodded his head at my words, a small hum resounding behind his lips.

The silence between the two of us was comfortable as the boys hooped and hollered through the halls, my small reprieve interrupted only by the sight of a small wrapped square coming into my line of sight.

“I-it’s chocolate. It helps me and I thought that it—that it might make you feel better.” Remus stuttered out nervously, his slender fingers offering the small wrapped treat gently.

The smile that spread across my face was the first one in what felt like a lifetime, my teeth showing brightly as I brushed fingers with the boy as I took the treat from him. He withdrew quickly but that didn’t stop the bright feeling that blossomed in my chest.

“I really appreciate it, thank you Remus.” 

Remus only nodded his head in acknowledgement, his blush gone unnoticed as he watched me rip open the package with a smile still gracing my face. 

He decided he liked it when I truly smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! I'm so thankful to those of you that have left a kudos for the story and those of you who have commented, it means the world to me to read your thoughts about the story thus far. Till next week! xxx


	4. No Place to Call Home

The floor under our feet felt more uneven as we made our way deeper into the castle, the potions classroom as I had learned was in one of the various dungeons. The darkness that slowly enveloped us as we made our way to class made my blood return to a comfortable warmth, my eyes as calm as they are in my nightly dreams. The torches on the walls cast dancing shadows across the walls softly.

As I followed the boys into the classroom I could see it was large enough to allow at least twenty students to work and its walls were lined with pickled animals in glass jars along with many different herbs. In one corner of the room stood a basin into which ice-cold water poured from a gargoyle's mouth, while in another was a student supply cupboard. There was also a blackboard on which the Potions Master could write the class's instructions.

The boys led me quickly to a table in the back of the room as most of the other tables were already filled as students pulled out all of their supplies.

The tables around the room were only meant for four but the boys were adamant I could fit on one of the ends as they made room for me. James was already quickly distracted as he watched Lily’s figure from across the room, his face a mixture of mirth but also annoyance as he also had the boy they called ‘Snivellus’ in his line of sight.

Just before I could ask what the professor was like the man in question came shuffling into the room carrying a glowing stone. His voice rumbled off the stone walls jovially as he called for the students attention. The portly man gained the attention of all within moments as he gazed at everyone's faces.

“Welcome back students, I think it apt that we get on with today's lesson as we have a lot to cover before your Potions O.W.L next June. Today we will be talking about the moonstone, also known as the wishing stone. A rather curious ingredient you will be using in a fair few of your potions this year.”

I listened to the lecture intently as I scribbled down various notes, so caught up in what the professor was saying. Potions had been a second love to me right after the care of magical creatures.

James and Sirius looked as if they could care less about potions as they fussed around and tried to distract me, Remus and Peter. Peter crumbled fast as he joined in their shenanigans. 

It wasn’t until towards the end of class did the boys ears perk back toward Professor Slughorn.

“Your homework will include writing an essay on the properties of Moonstone and its uses in Potion making.”

The audible groan around the classroom made the professor chuckle at his students before he dismissed us. I tried to ignore the pleading from James, Sirius, and Peter as they begged Remus and I to let them borrow our notes. But I held firm in my ‘no’ as I was already doing them a favor. Which led to poor Remus to be hounded by his friends.

I used the moment to my advantage and slipped away. It was now lunch period and I hoped it would give me a moment to myself so I could finally take a breath away from the constant bombardment from the Gryffindor boys.

I looked forward to my second cup of coffee as I made my way to the Great Hall. The hopeful skip in my step though was halted when I made eye contact with my roommates. They had the decency to give me a tightlipped smile but averted their eyes quickly, signaling to me that they hoped I would take the hint and sit elsewhere. 

Though the situation wasn’t what I had hoped for my first few days at Hogwarts, it could have been worse. So I was content to find an empty space at the Ravenclaw table where I could have a quiet meal and drink my coffee in peace as I started my Potions essay, no time like the present right?

It wasn’t hard to ignore the puppy dog look from the four boys at the Gryffindor table as they finally made their way to the Great Hall. But it was rather difficult to ignore a looming shadow that casted a rather bothersome darkness upon my Potions essay.

“You’re Accalia Sharpe, right?” the voice asked the question smoothly, the baritone in this stranger's voice reverberating through my bones.

As my eyes found the intruder, I noticed his long waves were midnight black. Half of it was tied loosely behind his head, his eyes were dark brown, framed by graceful brows. His skin was tanned. He had prominent cheekbones and a well-defined chin and nose.

The Prefect badge had given him away the minute I laid eyes on him.

“Teagin Oliver, I presume?” I said in a polite response.

A proud grin crossed his warm features, as his already perfect posture straightened even more.

“That’s right, I’m glad to hear you have heard of me. Professor Flitwick said he finally found the perfect female Prefect for our year, but he forgot to mention just how beautiful you were.” 

Teagin Oliver made a big show of taking my hand as he pressed a kiss to my knuckles just as Sirius had the day before. But there was a dark arrogance around him that made my stomach clench, I was never one for compliments that were meant to win over someone with a cheap gimmick. So I was quick to take my hand from his after giving a polite smile.  
“Right, well nice to meet you.” I said quickly before looking back down to my parchment, taking my quill in hand as I continued my essay.

But it seemed the boy couldn’t take a hint.

“Seeing as we are both Prefects, we should have lunch together don’t you think?” Teagin said, not even waiting for confirmation as he took a seat in front of me.

His presence seemed to buzz around me like a fly that you can never swat. Every word, movement and breath he performed seemed to infuriate me to no end.

At my silence, Teagin took that as confirmation to fill the air with his thoughtless words. Was this guy seriously a Ravenclaw?

“You know, girls don’t usually treat me like you do when they meet me.” 

“And how exactly should I treat you?” I said with a twinge of annoyance in my voice.

I could only imagine this kid made Prefect on his grades alone, there was no way that Professor Flitwick chose him based on his winning personality. 

“Well, I mean…” Teagin started, giving me a cocky smirk before gesturing to himself.

I could only take so much before I really told someone what I thought, and I pride myself on my patience. But Teagin broke my personal record easily.

“Look, I get it. People think you are attractive. Good for you but I don’t care. If you want to talk about our first Prefect meeting tonight then great but if not, I’m busy. So you can either leave and we will have a mutual tolerance of eachother or you can stay and waste my time further with useless conversation about what type of hair product you use. The choice is yours.”

Teagin seemed shocked by my words, almost like it was the first time he had ever been spoken to that way, and by the way he reacted, I might have thought so. But before he could even formulate a response, someone decided to rescue me from the narcissist.

The press of lips to my cheek startled me slightly, the stale smell of cigarette smoke stinged at my nose.

“Come on, Sharpe. Time for transfiguration.” the voice of Sirius hummed in my ear, another set of hands grabbed my things as Sirius dragged me from the table.

“Black.” Teagin hissed out through clenched teeth.

“Oliver.” Sirius said with a shit eating grin as he slung his arm around my shoulders.

“Nice to meet you, Teagin.” I said shortly as I was led to a waiting James and Peter who were sniggering to themselves.

I looked over my shoulder to meet Remus’ eyes briefly before he turned them away quickly, holding my things tightly in his hands.

When I had finally reached the group, I tossed Sirius’s arm off my shoulder, using my hand to whip the feeling of Sirius’ lips off my cheek.

“As much as I appreciate the rescue, never do that again Sirius.” my face twisted up in mild disgust.

Sirius let out a deep chuckle before nudging me with his shoulder, causing me to bump into Remus behind me.

“You know you liked it. We’re even now right?”

I gave Remus an apologizing look before taking my things from him gently.

“That’s not how that works, Sirius. You won’t get out of your debt that easily.” a smirk finally crossed my face as Sirius cursed his luck.

As I followed the boys down the twisting halls of Hogwarts, I couldn’t help but feel like this is where I was meant to be. Sure I had my doubts about the troublesome boys, but they had been nothing but welcoming to me. Sure I was doing them a favor but they didn’t drop me like a hot potato afterwards, they wanted to be my friend.

Even through Transfiguration class with Professor McGonagall, they tried to make me laugh as we studied. I could tell the kindly stern woman had an affectionate eye towards the boys as she had let them get away with more than any of the other professors had. Remus was quiet as ever, sat to my left as Sirius was at my right. The two reminded me of a devil and an angel sitting on my shoulders, one trying to get me into mischief and the other urging me to ignore him. 

After class, the boys led me outside as we all made our way to the greenhouse, grabbing our scarves from our bags as we wrapped them around ourselves tightly.

When my eyes caught the red and gold scarf tucked neatly at the bottom of my bag, I wanted to smack myself for forgetting for so long.

“God, I’m an idiot. Here Remus, I’m so sorry I forgot until now.” I said quickly, gaining the boy’s attention.

He stopped with me as I pulled his scarf from my bag, making quick work to wrap the scarf around the tall boy. His cheeks were flushed once I had finished, the poor guy must have been freezing. 

“Th-Thanks, Sharpe.” Remus stuttered, his gaze leaving mine nervously.

It broke my heart to think that he felt he needed to hide his face from mine, scars were nothing to be embarrassed about. They simply told a story of how we overcame adversity.

“Call me Accalia, or Lia. Whichever you prefer.” I said with a smile, tucking his scarf more snuggling to his heated skin.

Remus’ eyes slowly drifted to mine, “O-okay, L-Lia.”

A bright smile spread its way across my face for the second time today, all because of a kind shy boy.

We finally tore our eyes away from the other as Sirius whistled after us, shouting for us to get a move on if we didn’t want to be late.

I made a show of charging past Sirius as I ran to catch up with them, causing the boy to chase after me, lest he be the last one to class.

As the group bustled in loudly, heads turned in our direction, their eyes rolling when they realized who had barged in.

I barely had enough time to catch my breath before James had put his hands on my shoulders from behind, leaning down to whisper in my ear.

“Don’t forget our arrangement, Lia. You’ll do great.” James said with a laugh before shoving me in the direction of Lily Evans.

I gave him a pointed glare before cracking a small smile, giving them a last shake of my head before approaching the lone Gryffindor girl.

“Hi, Lily. Seems the boys are fighting over who's going to be partners with who in Herbology. To be honest, I’ve had enough testosterone today, wanna partner up this year?” I said with a cheery smile as I set my bag down on the table next to her.

Lily seemed alleviated as I asked her, the tension leaving her shoulders instantly as she let out a sigh of relief.

“That would be wonderful, since Sev isn’t here, I wasn’t sure if I’d have a partner. I really didn’t want Potter to ask.” 

“He is a bit much isn’t he?” I said smoothly, trying to figure out just how strained their relationship was.

“He’s a completely arrogant toerag.” Lily groaned out as she watched James jinx a Hufflepuff, throwing her a wink in the process.

Lily looked absolutely disgusted with James as she looked away immediately, causing James to cease his laughing and frown as I motioned with my hand for him to stop.

I barely had put my hand down just in time as Lily turned back to me.

“You seem to get along with them though, they don’t usually take well to people outside of the Marauders.” Lily said with a curious glance in my direction.

“The what?” I said, the confusion obvious in my voice.

“The Marauders, it's what they call themselves. Rather pathetic if you ask me.” 

I found it rather hilarious that they had a little name for their troublesome troupe, not bothering to hide my outburst of laughter, which in turn caused Lily to laugh as well.

With a small glance to the boys I saw they all had their thumbs up in my direction, all except Remus who seemed slightly embarrassed to be associated with the lot.

I gave them a look that screamed ‘stop it’ before turning back to Lily. She congratulated me on becoming Prefect before we started to make small talk.

To be honest I found her company quite enjoyable, and it was refreshing to speak to someone other than the four that currently had their eyes glued to the two of us.

It came to nobody’s surprise when Professor Sprout started her lesson by lecturing us about the importance of O.W.L.s. Not only would they decide our future in our classes at Hogwarts but they would lead us to the classes we needed to take towards our chosen profession and prepare us for our N.E.W.T.s.

It wasn’t long after the long lecture about the coming school term that class was finally dismissed as the sun was going down.

“So what's her favorite thing about me?” James bombarded me the minute class was over, dragging me away from a confused Lily as she waved goodbye.

“Wha—James! We didn’t talk about you!” 

“Why not?” James said with a rather impressive pout.

“Because I wasn’t trying to make my mission obvious you dolt!”

James let go of me slowly, kicking up a bit of stones that littered the ground as he looked around sadly.

“Oh don’t you start. We actually hit it off really well, I can see us actually becoming pretty good friends which is good for you.”

“It is?” James' eyes lit up with hope.

“Yes, because friends tell each other everything.”

James’s face grew even more brilliant as things started to turn in his mind.

“Oh that’s brilliant, Lia! I could kiss you!” James said as he grabbed me by the shoulders tugging me into a bone crushing hug.

“If you won’t I will.” Sirius said as he pulled James away, pressing another kiss onto my unprepared cheek.

“Ugh! Sirius, I told you not to do that!” I spat, using my scarf to scrub away at my skin.

Sirius barked out a laugh at my pouty face.

“Doesn’t mean I’m gonna stop.” 

“Oh yeah, well then I’ll tell Remus to punch you every time you do it. You’ll punch him for me right Remus?” I asked innocently, my own mischievous smirk coming to my face.

Remus shrugged a little before whacking Sirius on the arm.

“Ouch, Moony! That hurt!” Sirius said loudly, a look of betrayal on his face before he launched himself at Remus, tackling him to the ground as they started to rough house.

“Now you’ve done it.” Peter said from beside me as we watched those boys laugh as they wrestled on the cold ground.

“Me? Sirius is the one that assaulted me with his dog breath!”

At my comment, the boys settled down for a moment before they all started into a horrid fit of laughter making me feel like I wasn’t in on some private joke between them. 

I eventually gave up on the chuckling lot as I lunged over Remus and Sirius’ bodies on the ground, making my way to the Great hall for dinner. The thought of food and finishing off my homework before I took a nighttime stroll sounded like a great way to end the day.

Once again I sat alone at the Ravenclaw table, content to finally be warm again and left alone. Teagin was off being admired at the other end of the table by various girls from various houses, which left me with a relatively peaceful quiet. I had even managed to finish my assignments at dinner without interruption.

After the long day I had, a walk was sounding less and less appealing as I drug my tired feet toward Ravenclaw tower.

“Why is a raven like a writing desk?” the bronze house emblem for Ravenclaw asked as I approached.

“They both have quills.” I said, with a groan, all I wanted was to get comfortable and try to get some sleep.

The door swung open upon my answer, seemingly satisfied. As I made my way to the dorm and reached to open the door, it swung open.

“Oh, Sharpe. Just the girl we were looking for!” one of my roommates said, ushering me into the room quickly.

At first I had a glimmer of hope that maybe they had warmed up to the idea of me being around, afterall it was only the first day of classes. 

But my heart was crushed when I saw a trunk full of my things waiting for me to drag it away, another girl I had never seen before sitting on my bed.

“What’s going on?” I asked, thoroughly confused.

“So, I’m sure you know but we don’t all flow together. And Stacy here, well, she's one of our best friends and her roommates are super mean to her. So we thought maybe we should do a room switch.”  
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, did they really write me off that quickly?

“Wait, she’s not even a Ravenclaw. She’s a Hufflepuff. Aren't all the other rooms in our tower full?” I argued, trying not to let my emotions get the best of me.

“Well, yeah but we won’t tell if you won’t.” one of my former roommates chirped in with a bright smile.

“Yeah, it seems like you made friends in Gryffindor, that Lily Evans is super nice. If they have a free bed you can stay there, we won’t say anything.”

I honestly didn’t know what to say as I grabbed my trunk, giving the girls a tight lipped smile as I nodded my head. I didn’t even know where I was going as I left the room behind me.

“Thanks for being so cool about this.” was all I heard before the door closed behind me.

Where could I go now? Surely someone would say something if I slept in the common room, plus I wouldn't have access to the bathroom. I didn’t know if my ex roommates would even get away with their plan, but knowing what little I did about them, they probably had a solid idea. 

I could barely hold back my tears as I cast reducto on my trunk, shrinking it down till I could stuff it in my pocket. I was hoping to catch some sleep before the Prefect meeting tonight but that apparently wasn’t going to happen. Why was it that my life was one bump in the road after the other? I had really thought that Hogwarts would be a fresh start, but so far the house I was most suited to left a sour taste in my mouth and the one I had made friends with was the least like my personality.

I was so lost in my thoughts as I left Ravenclaw tower that I barely missed the sound of someone shouting my name.

“Accalia?” the voice of Lily Evans drew me to the present as she came lightly jogging down the hall towards me.

“Oh, hey Lily.” I said, plastering on my most convincing smile.

“You making your way to the Prefect meeting?” Lily asked with her own smile.

“Uh, yeah. I honestly don’t know where I’m going though,” I half-lied.

Lily smiled brightly at me, buying my lie as she led me by the arm.

“I figured as much, let's walk together.”

I nodded my head as I followed the red haired girl, her bright personality holding the shadows in my mind at bay, if only for a short while.

Once we found the meeting room and waited for everyone else to appear, I plucked up the courage to ask Lily the one question that was at the front of my mind.

“Hey Lily, how do you and your roommates get along?”

Lily looked at me curiously before answering.

“The five of us get along great, we’re like family. Why?”

I had to bite my bottom lip as the only plan I had failed. There were five of them which meant her room was full.

“Oh, nothing. Me and my roommates don’t seem to click well is all.” I said, trying to stay as close to the truth as possible.

Lily gave me a comforting pat, “Just give it time, Lia. I’m sure you’ll all be great friends soon.”

I had to give Lily credit for her optimism, it even made me smile for a moment before I simply nodded my head. There was no way things were going to get better considering they ostracized me on day two.

It wasn’t long till Remus had joined the two of us, his presence already adding to the comforting feeling Lily provided me. Once the meeting started, I could hardly pay attention as all I was thinking was what I would do next, and I knew Remus could sense something, his eyes drifted over to me multiple times, only turning away when I gave him a tight lipped smile.

Once the meeting was dismissed with a patrol schedule for the Prefects, the empty feeling returned like a rushing wave. As I had said goodbye to an unknowing Lily and a suspicious Remus, I did the only thing I could. Once the coast was clear I used my animagus ability to my advantage and transformed.

It was always easier to sleep when you’re a cat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Another chapter as promised. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and the reveal of Accalia's animagus form, I quiet enjoyed writing this chapter. On a side note, this month seems to be flying by and life seems to be getting more hectic, I don't know if it's just me or if anybody else is feeling like that as well. But I still have a few chapters written and hope to get to write some more should my schedule permit, thank you all for the support!


	5. Truth is in the Tea

The screeching sound of Jareth flying overhead was a welcome one as I sat miserably at the Ravenclaw table, a bit of long forgotten toast still sat untouched on my plate as I drowned in my second cup of coffee.

The letter that I plucked from Jareth’s beak gave me the first glimmer of happiness that morning as I read it over.

Minny was her usual bubbly self as she asked how my first day of classes were, the letter went on telling me how proud she was of me and to tell her what house I had been accepted into so she could knit me various items. 

I was eager to return the letter as I had pulled out a bit of parchment, scribbling down all the thoughts that were brewing in my mind. I was truthful that things hadn’t gone as I hoped but for the most part everyone I had met was nice, leaving out the part that I was currently homeless on day two of what was supposed to be my new life. But I couldn’t help but mention the four beasts that had clawed their way into my life, and how good it was to finally have the prospect of actual friends.

I sculpted my signature at the bottom of the letter, remembering the feeling of my mother's hand guiding mine when she first taught me to sign my name. Merlin forbid a member of the Sharpe-Cushing line to have an illegible and ugly signature. 

The memory brought a bittersweet smile to my face, my parents would always be with me in every shape of the letters that I wrote, remarkably strong just like my father, written with expertise and confidence in symmetrical lines just as mother taught me. 

I gave Jareth a bit of sausage as a treat before placing the letter gently to his awaiting beak, and with one more loving stroke to his proud chest, he took flight.

The peaceful moment though was bombarded by four distinct bodies colliding into mine as they slid onto the table next to me. Their bright shining eyes were too full of energy.

“Ready for Defense the Dark Arts, Lia?” James asked from his position sitting on the lip of the table in front of me, his polished shoes sitting on the bench to my left.

“I hear we have a metamorphmagus this year.” Peter said from the bench on my left, nudging me excitedly with his shoulder.

Even I couldn’t help but lift a brow in interest, metamorphmagus were rare.

But my attention was drug from Peter as Sirius huffed out an annoyed breath of air.

“Too bad we have a bloke this year, and my cousin is a metamorphmagus, it’s not that special.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the boy as he pouted, sitting just opposite of James on my right on top of the table, his scuffed shoes bumping against my leg with agitation.

“You’re just mad you can’t use your charms on him to give you a good grade.” Remus smirked at his friend, his shoulder brushing mine slightly at my right.

“Hey, don’t be so close-minded you lot! Sirius could be his type.” I said with a wink.

Sirius blanched for a moment before a thoughtful look crossed his face.

“You’re right, Lia. Maybe all hope isn’t lost.” Sirius said while he tapped a thoughtful finger against his proud chin.

I was quick to pick up my books and smack his leg as I stood from the table.

“Hey, no seducing the Professors!”

Sirius threw me a cheeky grin as he hopped off the table.

“No promises.”

The trip to the DADA classroom drifted by as I admired the school, no one stone was like the other and the paintings that littered the school were fascinating. Not to mention, Scotland was beautiful.

Reality only settled back in as the murmurs of my classmates reached my ears, the boys had already piled into the seats in the back of the class leaving me to scan the room from the doorway. 

I caught sight of the red of Lily Evans' hair, but she was already sitting and happily laughing with her roommate and best friend Marlene Price. The only seat left was in the back of the class behind Remus and Peter.

The two person benches didn’t seem as lonely as they did till I sat down, a reminder that I was a transfer and not meant to be here in the first place, throwing off the count of the class leaving me the odd person out. 

I didn’t dwell on the thought too much though as I pulled my book from my bag, content to wallow in my solidarity but was startled when a book slapped down hard on the desk next to me.

“S-sorry.” Remus said softly before he sat down slowly next to me.

I gave him a confused look before turning to Peter who had a bright smile spread across his face.

“Remus thought you looked lonely.” Peter said brightly.

I only saw the glare Remus shot his friend through the corner of my eye before Peter spoke once more.

“Honestly, this is my worst subject. I’ll probably be sleeping through most of it, not having someone next to me to draw attention will work out for the better.” Peter said kindly as he patted my hand before turning back around, just in time for the wad of paper Sirius threw at him to smack him straight in the face.

I had to choke back the small giggle that left my mouth as the professor strode into the room, drawing the eyes of everyone in the class.

The hot pink crop of hair is what caught my eyes first, next was the colorful robes that flowed behind him as he strode in the room, reminding me of a monarch butterfly—demanding an audience. As he turned around finally making a stance at the head of the class, I got a view of his mahogany-brown skin, and maroon eyes. The striking state of him was enough that the silence in the classroom that followed made my blood as cold as the autumnal air that crept through an open window. Bereft of any wind the leaves outside hung limp until they fell of their own accord, there was no whispering noise or rustling.

The silence stretched thinner and thinner, like a balloon blown big, until the temptation to rupture it was too great to resist.

“If the last two people on earth were us, I would have no problem repopulating it with you.” Sirius blurted out, causing an eruption of laughter to break out around the room.

The professor cocked a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at Sirius, his eyes raking over the boy like he was dissecting Sirius down to the bone.

“Oh honey, you’re sweet. But those stormy eyes don’t fool me for a moment.”

The inhuman snort that left James caused Sirius to smack him with his book in retaliation.

“Right, now that you’ve all come back to Earth, let's begin shall we?” the professor said with a smooth voice, introducing himself as Professor Dedalus Adonis.

I could already tell that the class would be a careful balance of both theoretical and practical knowledge and skills as we dove straight into a lecture about the Impediment Jinx, then applied it after with our partners.

I could tell Remus was a fast learner, only needing a gentle hand from me to adjust his hand once before he had the spell down, giving me an awkward smile as his neck held a champagne pink hue.

As we all made our way to Divination I had a skip in my step, DADA went better than I could have expected and I was appreciating that even if things weren’t going as I had hoped, my classes were amazing thus far. Divination was never taught at Ilvermorny so I was even more excited at the prospect.

“Don’t look so excited.” James groaned as he trudged along.

“They didn’t offer this course at Ilvermorny. Don’t douse my excitement!” 

“There’s a reason they don’t offer it. It’s bloody boring.” Sirius grumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets as we started skipping up the stairs.

“I think it’s pretty fun.” Peter said with a smile.

“That‘s ‘cause you're the only one that's good at it.” Jame’s couldn't hide the jealousy in his voice as he glared at Peter.

Peter simply shrugged his shoulders with a cheeky grin on his face, obviously proud he was good at something the others weren’t.

“Well, you lot have fun.” Remus finally piped up trying to quietly escape.

“Oi! Where you goin’ Moony?” Sirius barked out.

Remus looked sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“Study of Ancient Runes?”

I watched all three boys' heads shoot towards Remus, a betrayed look in their eyes.

“You switched last minute?” James' voice seemed so surprised by his friend's small deception.

“Sorry, Prongs. I can’t stand another year of Divination, you know it's dangerous for me.” Remus said softly, causing all the boys to hang their heads and nod in understanding.

To say I was confused was an understatement. I still couldn't make heads or tails of their strange nicknames for each other, and as I watched Remus’ retreating form I couldn’t hold my tongue any longer.

“What’s with the weird nicknames?”

Like three well-tuned machines, the boys turned to me with bright cheshire smiles.

“What? Never had a nickname before, Lia?” James said innocently, a little too innocently.

I couldn’t help but squint at the boys, obviously something was up but I couldn’t prove it. But it wasn’t my place to meddle, I knew very well the desire to keep a secret a secret.

So I just shrugged at their blank faces before continuing my way to Divination, their heavy footfalls continuing after mine shortly.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Divination, but it certainly wasn’t sitting around drinking tea as I listened to a droning monologue.

Snores could be heard behind mine and Peters table, coming from both James and Sirius who had long given up in taking any sort of notes.

The lesson on Tessomancy wasn’t a boring one persay, but I was eager to get on to the applied part of the lecture. Waiting till the professor was done before finishing the tea. 

When the time finally came, I wrinkled my nose as I finished the cold bitter tea, passing it over to Peter as I took his. The eager look on his boyish features shed a new light on the tawny haired boy, he was quiet, but not out of painful shyness. It was a reservedness, like a conscious choice to observe the lay of the land before he got involved. Yet he wasn't stand-offish, he remained friendly faced and welcoming in body posture. It wasn't like he sat down one day and planned to be like that, it's just the way he was. There was nothing threatening about him, nothing at all. He was an easy listener, a good audience, giving encouraging feedback laced with intelligent comments. He worked hard, he got his work done.

But my attention was jerked back to the present as the Professor approached our table asking Peter to share his reading from my cup.

“Well, it’s just a cat, Professor. I know that means deceit but there's no other context. Just the cat.” Peter answered, his brow pulled into a furrow.

The Professor hummed in response before turning to me, an expectant look in their eye.

I struggled to make the shapes out in Peter’s cup, but once I did I was quick to give an answer.

“It's a closed book and a full moon, but I will admit I’m not sure what it means.”

The Professor excused my poor knowledge on the subject based on the fact I had never had a class in divination but praised my keen eye as I had interpreted the shapes correctly.

“Secrets lie under the full moon.” the professor interpreted to me, handing the cup back gently before continuing around the room.

As I glared into the cup another ball of paper was hurled at Peter's face.

“Ouch! What?”

The murderous glare James and Sirius threw Peter made a chill run up my spine.

Peter shrunk away from their gaze, his eyes never meeting mine for the rest of the class. Before I knew it, Sirius had hoisted Peter by the collar and started dragging him away, the hiss of his voice barely audible.

“What in Merlin’s name is wrong with you Wormtail?!”

Peter tried to pry Sirius off him but his efforts were futile.

“It’s not my fault Padfoot! It was the tea leaves.”

I wanted to laugh at their horrible way of making me less suspicious, their behavior already making the curious creature inside of me stir.

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs.

Sure I wasn’t very good at making friends or keeping them for that matter but I knew those weren’t normal nicknames. Nor was their behavior.

But I dismissed the thought as my stomach growled, alerting me to its desire for sustenance.

As much as I tried to enjoy my meal, I couldn’t ignore the piercing gazes of the four Gryffindors. I could see them hurriedly speaking with each other with worried looks on their faces, but none more than Remus. Every time they looked at me I pretended to continue the book I was reading.

A part of me felt like I had done something wrong, but as I wracked my brain over everything that happened today, nothing stood out besides the incident in Divination that I hardly understood. So, in order to escape their nervous gazes, I decided to leave lunch early and make my way outside to the Care of Magical Creatures class.

The weather was cold enough to make my atoms shiver, but as I buried my head in my scarf and robe, doubts started to fog my mind. 

What if they found out what happened to Mother and Father? What if they didn’t want to be my friends anymore? Did they think I was a freak like my peers in Ilvermorny did?

The thoughts were short lived as I came to the walled and cleared out area that served as the area for the Care of Magical Creatures class.

I watched as a man I had only read about in books strolled his way through the area, struggling to carry pots of various trees.

From what I had learned, Professor Silvanus Kettleburn had an extreme, professorial enthusiasm for the subject of Magizoology and great fondness for magical creatures of all kinds. 

I was so lost in my giddiness to finally meet one of my heroes in the field of Magizoology that I was startled when the jovial voice of the man met my ears.

“Oh! My dear, I am afraid you are quite early for class.”

“I know, I’m sorry, sir.” I said quickly before adding, “Would you like some help with those?”

Professor Kettleburn's one good eye glinted at the offer, a big smile crossing his face.

“That would be most helpful.”

I hurriedly rushed to the man, taking one of the very large pots he had in his prosthetic arm. 

As the small tree brushed against my face, my eyes found a pair of tiny beady ones staring back at me through the foliage.

“Well, hello there buddy.” I gushed at the stick-like creature.

The little beast squeaked at me gently, causing my heart to beat faster at just how adorable it was.

“We’re studying Bowtruckles first, Professor?” The enthusiasm in my voice was all too apparent to the barely held together Kettleburn.

“Indeed we are! Are you familiar with them?”

As we placed the first two trees down, I didn’t hesitate to outstretch a finger to the creature slowly, cooing to it softly as it slowly crawled into my hand.

“I am familiar with all creatures, sir. It’s my life's pursuit you could say, I haven't had much chance to actually study them I’m afraid.”

Kettleburn’s grin only grew more than I thought it could at my words.

“It’s refreshing to have a student with such enthusiasm! Would you like to assist me in the lecture today, Miss?”

“Sharpe, sir. And yes, I would love to!” I said brightly in return.

It wasn’t long after that that Professor Kettleburn and I had hauled all the different trees out into the study area, the bowtruckle I had made friends with curled itself against my neck between my scarf. His beady eyes and single large leaf protruding from his head the only thing that could be seen as he cooed about.

Kettleburn tittered at my conversations with the Bowtruckle, obviously amused by my childlike wonder and excitement.

It wasn’t long till students started to show up, bundled in various layers as they brought out their books. Not even the arrival of the Marauders could dampen my spirits. I was successful in pretending not to see them until James thought it would be smart to stick his hand in the tree to look at the creatures.

“James don’t!” I said as I ran to him quickly, ripping his hand away just in time as a Bowtruckle went to slice at the young wizard with its claws.

“You got to be more careful, Bowtruckles may look cute but you have to be gentle and kind with them. They are fiercely protective of the trees they live in, your hand could have been sliced down to the bone!” I chastised, causing James to look at me sheepishly.

“She’s right, sonny. How do you think I lost part of my finger?” Kettleburn said with a deep laugh as he held up his last remaining arm, the tip of his ring finger missing.

James’ eyes widened at the man then to the creature looking at him through the black locks of my hair.

As James backed away to the group, they all avoided my gaze. My heart broke a little at their behavior, I had no clue what I had done but obviously they were uncomfortable.

As I started backing away, holding back some unshed tears I felt a tentative hand catch my wrist.

“L-Lia?”

Remus’ eyes found mine softly, his eyes were the ocean, so full of life yet so uncertain. The blue-green hue carried his emotional currents, and before I could breathe I felt like I was drown by them. But as quick as it came did it rush away when he dropped his gaze and his hand from mine. My eyes followed his movements as he pulled a familiar book from his bag.

“I’m sorry I borrowed this f-for so long.”

His words seemed so scared about what my reaction would be as I reached for my copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. 

“I thought I had lost this.” the overwhelming joy in my voice seemed to calm Remus slightly as he ran a hand through his hair nervously.

“Well I-I couldn't help but read it, you have a lot of amazing notes in there. You obviously c-care a lot about the creatures in it.”

As Remus said this, I could tell the boys ears perked up on our conversation.

“I do. A lot of these beasts are misunderstood, I wish more people saw just how wonderful they are. I want to fight for their future.” 

The crooked smile that crossed Remus’ face was the first one I had really seen cross the boy's face, even if he wasn’t looking at me, it warmed my heart.

Professor Kettleburn started his lecture rather animatedly before he motioned for me to assist him, letting me make rounds with him as we watched the students observe the Bowtruckles in their trees.

The boys seemed more eager to see me this time around as I answered any questions they had about the creatures. I had even pulled my book out to the page about Bowtruckles where I had various notes scrawled about the margins.

A rumble of laughter could be heard from Remus beside me as the boys copied down my scribbles. As I met his face with a curious look, I followed his gaze to the Bowtruckle swinging from my hair as it tried to get a better look at the sketch from the book. I gently took the creature into my hand as I let him get a better view as his curious fingers grazed the picture.

I cooed at the Bowtruckle as it started meeping at me, as if asking a million questions. I felt eyes on me as I did this and turned to find those enticing blue eyes staring at me with a warm smile causing my cheeks to flush.

“Um, would you like to hold him?” I said after I cleared my throat of the embarrassed feeling.

“I-I…” Remus stuttered nervously, doubt clear in his cerulean eyes.

“Here.” I said as I took his hand in mine, the warmth that flooded my hand instantly was enticing but once I let the Bowtruckle crawl over I took my hand from Remus’ hesitantly.

The smiles that crossed the boys’ faces as they crowded around Remus was priceless.

“Amazing right?” I said as they all greeted the Bowtruckle, who was enjoying the attention greatly.

Sadly, class ended faster than I was prepared for. Students packed up and left as I helped Kettleburn carry all the trees back to a small greenhouse Kettleburn had for the trees and Bowtruckles.

When I said goodbye to the professor I was surprised to see the boys’ still waiting for me, their smiling faces once again as happy as they were before Divination.

“Have dinner with us.” Sirius grinned, throwing an arm around my shoulders as he ruffled my hair, much to my annoyance.

“But—” I started before my protests were cut off.

“Come on, we all have to stay awake for astronomy tonight anyway. Plus I could use some help on our Potions assignment anyway.” James said with a pouting lip, his eyes begging me.

I groaned as I tossed Sirius’ arm away.

“Fine.” I relented before the boys whooped in victory.

The boys were kind enough to sit at the Ravenclaw table with me, trying not to ostracize me more than they already had.

Dinner was actually nicer than I thought it would be as I laughed at the boys jokes and helped James with his essay, as I had already finished mine the day it was assigned. The only embarrassing part of the night was when James and Sirius hexed a few of my housemates when they wouldn’t stop shooting the Gryffindors dirty looks for eating at our table.

“I still can’t believe you’re a Ravenclaw, I think the Sorting Hat had a hiccup or something.” Sirius said around a mouthful of food.

“Yeah, plus she looked so cute in Remus’ scarf.” Peter added, causing the boy in question to blush at his comment.

“Way to be embarrassing guys. I don’t think it was a mistake but I certainly don’t mesh with the group very well.” I admitted with a soft voice.  
“Wha?” James' shocked face turned towards me, his mouth full of mashed potatoes but his eyes full of fury.

“Which of these gits is—” James said as he tried to stand abruptly, only to be pulled down by me.

I shushed him with a small laugh, as I looped my arm through his free one next to me to keep him down.

“It’s alright James, no one likes a new kid.”

James grumbled another round of ‘gits’ as he stuffed his face once more. 

“It’s nice to know you guys care.” I said softly as I pushed the food around my plate.

Remus’ worried eye glanced to the side, eyeing me with worry.

“You not hungry?”

I turned to him at my right, finally letting go of James.

“Eh, I guess not. I'll bring a snack with me to Astronomy though, just in case my appetite comes back.”

Remus simply nodded, seeming content with my decision.

It wasn’t long till I excused myself so I could wash up quickly in the Prefects bathroom, the bath was enormous and the room was empty so I could enjoy myself in peace. I made sure the bathroom was locked as I took my suitcase out and used engorgio on it so I could grab a fresh uniform and my Astronomy books. 

I plaited my wet hair out of my face as I raced to meet the boys at the bottom of the Astronomy tower.

“There she is, took you long enough.” Sirius said, stuffing his cold hands into his pockets as he snuggled further into his scarf.

“Not my fault I don’t like smelling like shit.” I hissed at the boy, nudging him playfully on the shoulder.

“Well, you may smell nice but you’re gonna freeze with all that wet hair.”

I had to admit Sirius made a point but it wasn’t like I had a choice with my current living situation, I had to use the Prefect’s bathroom as much as I could till I found a better solution.

Unfortunately there were no chairs set up as we would be standing the whole class, crushing the idea for me to curl into myself as we listened to the lecture. It became hard to pay attention with how cold I was, my teeth chattering echoing around in my head. But I wasn’t the only one as Sirius was cooped up like an awkward turtle. James on the other hand decided to shuffle from foot to foot quickly as he blew warm air into his hands. Poor Peter was the only smart one as he was wrapped up so much that it made him look like a marshmallow, the only thing visible were his eyes but he had limited movement.

Other students looked just as miserable as Professor Sinistra chatted animatedly about Jupiter, the cold seemingly the last thing she was worried about.

My eyes drifted to the boy at my right who was scribbling notes down, seemingly the least affected out of the bunch. Remus’ nose was kissed red by the cold and his sandy brown curls were struggling to escape his beanie but he seemed content. I was so jealous of the fact that I had no qualms about stealing some of that warmth from him in desperation.

Poor Remus was startled as I approached him, unclasping his cloak before pressing my back to his chest and clasping the robe back around us. My shiver though was so violent that once he recovered from the shock he hesitantly wrapped his arms around me. The heat spread from deep inside my chest, slowly crawling through every cell of my body, the warmth welcomed me like an old friend. But it was strange, because I never felt that way before. It kinda scared me, you know? Feeling the cold slowly leaving my heart. All my life everything I once loved or cared about always fucked up and broke me, tearing apart my soul bit by bit. But right now, right now was the first time in a long time I felt like everything in my little tiny universe was right.

“Oi! Got anymore room in their Moony?” Sirius chattered, only slightly joking with desperate eyes.

“G-get your own space heater. This o-ones taken!” I shook out, teeth still chattering but not as bad as before.

I swear I felt Remus’ arms tighten a fraction but the thought was gone as I let out a sharp laugh. Sirius had shuffled his way next to James, throwing his arms dramatically over his best friend as he stuffed his hands into James' coat.

“Wha-Sirius! Get off!” James argued.

But after a while James stopped struggling, a look of defeat on his face as Sirius clung to him like a cobra. The embarrassment was clear but after a while they both stopped shivering as bad.

I had actually managed to help Remus finish his notes now that I could actually pay attention to the lecture. His arms still wrapped around me as I took his notebook and started looping my notes onto his chicken scratch filled pages. The warm breath that fanned my neck was pleasant as I made another note that we would need to write an essay on Europa and Io, after that we would spend the rest of the year getting into groups of five to fill out star charts.

The herd that plowed against the group once class was dismissed was merciless as people ran inside for warmth. Our group was the last to waddle down the stairs and back to the main part of the castle. Once there, Remus removed his arms slowly once I tapped them, crawling out from under his cloak, I missed the smell of musty books and cocoa that left because of it.

“Well, that was absolutely awful. But Remus and I got all the notes written down from the lecture.” I said with a smile.

James, Peter and Sirius all let out a sigh of relief, knowing there was no way they would remember all the details.

I wasn’t ready for the night to end as the boys said goodnight to me, Remus gently taking the notebook from me as they all made their way to Gryffindor tower.

I wasn’t ready for another cold night outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it Wednesday already? Well another week another chapter! As always, thank you all who have commented or left a kudos. It lifts my spirits to know people want to give feedback of any kind. Till next Wednesday! x


	6. Chocolate Promises

The last two days of classes for the week seemed to fly by. 

It wasn’t till the end of Astronomy Friday night did we all let out a collective sigh of relief, I was buried up to my nose under Remus' cloak as we stopped finally outside the entrance to Gryffindor tower. 

“We should go to Hogsmeade tomorrow!” Sirius said, excited to show me the small little town outside of Hogwarts.

“Sounds fun to me. It’s all anyone seems to talk about.” I said, separating myself from Remus.

“That and the Celestial Ball.” James said, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

I knew he was wanting me to warm up Lily enough so he could ask her to go with him this year but with the way things were going if he didn’t change his attitude there was no way Lily would say yes.

“We’re going to Honeydukes right?” Peter asked, almost jumping up and down with excitement.

“Is that even a question?” Remus snickered at his friend.

“It's settled then.” Sirius said with his award winning smile.

I made sure to get up that morning early. Yawning as I stretched in the morning sun, the tree which I currently called home next to the Black Lake was in the perfect position that the first rays of morning would hit before anything else.

After I hopped down and shaked a bit of cold from my fur I went trotting towards the castle to get in a warm bath before the trip.

Once inside I was able to morph back into my human body, properly stretching my sore muscles and getting a satisfied pop from my back.

I pulled out my tie neck winter dress and double lapel coat from my luggage, the only thing I never really cared about in my family was the way they wanted to classically dress. I never complained about it because my family spent good money on all of my clothes and they were lovely but I did admit I wanted to know what it felt like to pull on a pair of jeans and a oversized sweater. The thought went as fast as it came though, hoping to get some breakfast before our adventure for today.

To my surprise the boys were all gathered in the Great Hall already scarfing down food as usual. It was eerie how empty it was this early in the morning on a weekend. I had to admit it was quite nice being able to sit next to the boys and be the only ones in the hall that morning.

“Don’t eat too much, we will be going to the Three Broomsticks and Honeydukes today.” Sirius said with a serious look on his face, laying out the battle plan for today.

I made sure to have a small cup of coffee and a bit of toast and egg to hold me over. Excitement filling my stomach more than the food did as I thought about this being the first time I’ve actually gone out with friends.

“Alright, Marauders. Let’s roll out!” Sirius said with a dramatic pose.

I gave a small laugh at his antics but felt a warm feeling light up inside me that he included me in their little troupe.

After wrapping up in our scarves, we headed out to the town. The walk was a long one but nothing terrible, luckily it was too early for snow as I knew the boys would have had a field day throwing snowballs at each other. 

Once we all arrived, we were all a bit too chilled so we decided to hit the Three Broomsticks first for something called  _ butterbeer _ . I wasn’t going to argue as a warm place and a good drink sounded rather nice.

The town itself had rustic cabins that dotted the grassy hills that started to brown from the cold as trees stood up like spikes, zigzagging the border of brick roads and unpolished homes.

It was perfectly quaint and I could see why students loved it so much.

The Three Broomsticks was just as cozy on the inside as it had looked on the outside, the owner of the pub greeting the boys cheerfully.

“And who is your lovely friend, boys?”

“Madame Rosmerta, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Accalia Sharpe.” Sirius said with a great flourish as I took the woman's hand firmly.

“It’s lovely to meet you ma’am, I've heard nothing but sweet declarations of love from these four.” I said with a bright smile, causing Rosmerta to blush.

“Oh, an American! You boys flatter me. Round of butterbeer?” Rosmerta said heading over to the bar counter with a cheeky smile.

There was a resounding murmur of ‘yes pleases’ that emitted from our group as we took a table nearest to the blazing fireplace.

It wasn’t long till after we got comfortable did Madame Rosmerta show up with a tray following behind her, passing the drinks out to everyone at the table.

I gazed at the golden liquid curiously in its glass mug, a generous amount of foam frothed at the top. 

All the boys watched me with excited looks, waiting for me to try it.

Like most things in Europe, it was served at room temperature, making me feel hesitant as I brought it up to my lips. I had no clue what to expect as I brought the mug to my lips taking a small sip.

The taste surprised me as it slipped down my throat, the butterscotch taste not overpowering but complimentary. 

“Wow, that's actually really good.” I said taking another eager drink.

We all cheered together, toasting our glasses as we enjoyed the warm drink by the fire, both James and Sirius sharing such outlandish stories I could hardly believe they were real.

After warming up and finishing our drinks the boys led me on a tour of the town visiting all the various shops knowing Honeydukes would be our last stop before going back to Hogwarts. I was a little sad there were no normal clothing shops and only novelty wizard ones but I could do a bit of shopping over Christmas break.

The boys spent an exuberant amount of time buying out all the products in Zonko’s shop, Remus and me the good Prefects we were, turned a blind eye so that if those products were used at Hogwarts we could claim reasonable doubt about who did it.

“Oh, can we go to the Shrieking Shack? I’m hearing everyone say that it’s haunted!” I said excitedly, I loved everything spooky after all.

The boys all seemed to tense under their coats at the suggestion.

“Eh, you don’t want to go there.” James started, followed by Sirius.

“Yeah, that place is for little kids.” 

“You really wouldn’t like it, Lia. People talk it up to be more than it’s worth.” Peter added with a convincing smile.

I eyed them suspiciously, making a mental note to go during my own time.

“Fine, you boys probably just want to get your candy already.” I said with a huff.

They all nodded eagerly at the excuse, besides Remus who looked rather sad about everything.

The minute we all walked into Honeydukes, the boys were literally like kids in a candy store. All of them besides Remus had fled to roam the aisles, the sad guy stood awkwardly by my side glancing longingly at the colorful walls.

I decided I didn’t like the sad look in his eyes and thought a distraction would be good for him.

I looped my arm through his which immediately stiffened as his eyes stared at my intrusive appendage.

“So what’s good here?” the innocent question I asked seemed to distract him from his thoughts as his eyes lit up.

Remus led me around shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable. Creamy chunks of nougat, shimmering pink squares of coconut ice, honey-coloured toffees; hundreds of different kinds of chocolate in neat rows; there was a large barrel of Every Flavour Beans, and another of Fizzing Whizzbees, the levitating sherbet balls were definitely fun to look at as we wandered around.

I noticed the boys were stuffing buckets full of treats, but Remus wasn’t. Just yesterday he seemed excited about the idea. But my keen eyes started to deduce the reason for me, not that it ever came to my mind till now but I noticed the worn quality of Remus’ shoes and the hand me down nature of his ill fitting clothes. Remus was a lean guy but the regular clothes he wore fit him nothing like his uniform did.

He must not come from a very well to do family.

But that was okay, money meant nothing without love and I was sitting on my family's fortune, the galleons stuffed in my pockets held no value to me until I saw Remus looking longingly at the rows of chocolate.

I thought I would be sneaky as I grabbed my own bucket, which Remus stuttered out that he would carry. The sad lonely part of me thought maybe he enjoyed me leading him around the store.

I remembered all the previous chocolates that Remus had pointed out to me, waiting till the boys became rowdy and drew Remus’ gaze a couple of times as I loaded up the bucket with his favorites. I threw a single box of peppermint toads on top to seem inconspicuous.

“Hey James?” I called out as I drug Remus around more.

“Yeah?” He said as his head popped around a corner.

“What’s Lily’s favorite candy?” I asked, looking around to try and guess myself but nothing seemed to spark.

A dazed look crossed James’ face as I knew he was thinking about the redhead.

“Sugar quills.” he grinned out, before Sirius gained his attention once more.

Remus gave me a curious look before I picked out a rather good looking package for her. 

“I have to spoil the only female friend I have.” I said with a small smile, causing one to pull at the corner of Remus’ mouth as well, which he tried to hide from me.

We finally regrouped at the register, I couldn’t help but notice that James had paid for everything Sirius had bought through the day, I wasn’t going to ask but Sirius caught my quirked eyebrow and smiled.

“James is my sugar daddy since the family disowned me.” though Sirius’ lips were quirked in his signature smirk, his grey eyes held a sadness I was all too familiar with. 

It sucked losing your family.

But I slipped my arm from the crook of Remus’ elbow as Peter excitedly distracted the boy with his sugar haul. I made quick work of paying for all the treats and made sure the clerk wrapped the chocolate in its own giant box and the sugar quills for Lily.

The peppermint toads were the only thing I kept out as it was the one thing I had purchased for myself. As we started our way back to Hogwarts, Remus offered to carry the two wrapped packages, I was more than happy to let him carry his own unknowing gift.

“Was t-that all you got for yourself?” Remus stuttered out as the other boys started singing a song by the Weird Sisters at the top of their lungs off-key.

I made a show of looking around us before motioning him closer, Remus seemed confused but complied anyways.

“To be honest, I’m not huge on candy. I only eat it in times of distress.” I said with a small smile.

Remus chuckled at that, “Wow, what a blasphemer.”

“I know.” I laughed loudly, watching as the sun was just starting to drift down in the sky.

Once back at the castle, the boys were already plotting various pranks on a couple of Slytherins and a few kids from other houses. I was happy that I wouldn’t be on the receiving end of such devilish pranks. 

“See you at dinner, yeah?” James said with his crooked smile.

I took Lily’s package from atop Remus’ huge box, starting to back away.

“Yep.” I said, making sure to pop the ‘p’ with emphasis.

Remus looked at me with big eyes, like a puppy that didn’t know what to do with itself as he still hadn’t caught on.

“You enjoy that. Don’t eat it all in one sitting.” I said with a quick wink before walking in the opposite direction, leaving a stunned Remus to be dragged away by his friends.

The whole time at dinner, I felt the shy boys eyes flick to my face when he thought I wasn’t looking. I let him feel like he was getting away with it as I laughed at Peter’s awful jokes. After dinner, I passed everyone one of the peppermint toads I had purchased enjoying how we all laughed at the jumping sensation that happened in our stomachs due to the effects of the candy.

It wasn’t long after that that the boys said they had a project they had to continue with tonight. I knew very well that it wasn’t a school project as we had none assigned yet except the star charts. But I let them get away with their farce and gave them all quick hugs.

Remus held on for a fraction longer whispering a quiet thank you in my ear before letting go, looking to his shoes bashfully as he walked away. 

Maybe Hogwarts wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My word. I apologize for not posting sooner, life likes to take many crazy turns and unfortunately mine went south for a bit but its on the rise once again! I hope this chapter lifts many of your guys' spirits. Till next time.


	7. Quidditch and Midnight Strolls

“Quidditch tryouts?”

“Yeah, I want you to come along and watch, the whole gang will be there.” James said brightly, I couldn’t ignore the mischievous glint in his eye though.

“It's the first Sunday of the semester, you knew I was gonna study today since we all went to Hogsmeade yesterday.” I said with a slight whine in my voice.

“Oh don’t be such a Ravenclaw.” James said as he gave me a friendly jab to the shoulder, already decked out in his Captains gear.

I simply glared at him as I crossed my arms, waiting for him to tell me the real reason he wanted me to go.

“Fine, I was hoping you would ask Lily to come too.” James admitted finally, trying no to look me in the eye.

A smirk crossed my face when the truth came out.

“Next time tell me the truth, it’ll save us both more time.” 

James looked up at me with a hopeful smile, the glint of his round glasses adding to the shine.

“So you’ll do it?”

“Of course. You’re lucky I bought candy to butter her up with.” I said, poking a finger to his padded chest before going to the Great Hall.

It wasn’t hard to spot Lily amongst the crowd, her fiery hair like a beacon at the Gryffindor table.

As I approached, Marlene was first to see me, tapping on Lily’s shoulder and motioning to me. I gave the blonde a smile in thanks which she returned warmly.

When Lily’s eyes caught me she gave me a big smile.

“Hey, Lia! What’s up?”

“Well, I was going to watch the Quidditch tryouts today and wanted to know if you wanted to come along?”

Lily pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth in thought, mulling on it before it looked like she remembered something.

“I told Sev we could study today.” Lily said softly, but she seemed conflicted.

“Well, he can come along if he wants.” I said, knowing very well from what the boys told me that he wouldn’t be caught dead there unless it was game day and Slytherin was playing.

“I don’t know.” Lily said, still needing some convincing.

That's when I pulled the box from behind my back, offering it to the redhead with a cheeky smile.

“We can share these. What do you say?” 

Lily’s eyes lit up as she tore away the paper.

“Oh my gosh, how did you know? These are the new exclusive flavors too!”

I smiled at the moment that presented itself to me, to slightly raise James on a better pedestal.

“James actually told me they were your favorite, the boys and I went to Hogsmeade yesterday and I decided to buy some gifts.” I said truthfully.

Lily seemed surprised by what I had said.

“He did? I didn’t think he’d bother remembering something like that.”

I simply shrugged as I offered her my hand.

“So, you coming?”

Lily only glanced at it slightly before she broke out into a wide smile, placing her hand in mine.

“Let’s go.”

The cold wasn’t as terrible it had been for the last week but the slight wind still had a stinging bite to it.

Peter, Remus and I were all sprawled across the bleachers huddled together as we started filling out the star chart for Astronomy. Peter had brought a thermos of hot chocolate that we passed around occasionally. Lily was sat next to our huddled group watching the mock matches for the tryouts as Sirius was painted up as if a real game was playing, whooping and hollering like a possessed fan.

“I wish I would have thought of that.” Lily said with a small pout as she watched us fill out the star chart slowly.

I couldn’t help but laugh as she pouted around the sugar quill she was currently gnawing on, but I could tell she was enjoying watching the tryouts though she tried to ignore James anytime he tried to impress her.

“You’d think, but I still think this would be easier to do at night.” I said with a grumble.

“We got better things to do at night than freeze our asses off staring at the stars.” Sirius said over his shoulder.

“Oh yeah, like what?” I said, trying to bait him.

“Like-uh…” Sirius said, obviously caught in his slip up.

“That’s what I thought.” I said as I stuck my tongue out at him, sure it wasn’t ladylike but he was asking for it.

I laughed as Sirius returned the face, sticking his tongue back out at me, an unlit cigarette still perched in the corner of his mouth.

Remus was too busy focusing on the chart and munching on a bit of chocolate that I had bought him to even worry himself with what we were saying. 

Eventually Peter and I gave up on the star chart, pulling the blanket he brought with him around me, Lily and him. Remus shortly followed after, realizing we had abandoned him, choosing to sit behind me. I used the situation to my advantage and rested my back against his legs, I really hated bleacher seats.

It wasn’t till around lunch time did they finally decide on the roster for the year. Everyone was happy to go back inside but knew that we all had fun nonetheless. Lily gave me a quick hug, hoping to avoid James.

“Hey, you want to come study with me and Sev? I promised him after lunch we would study before dinner.”

I thought about it only for a second before agreeing, the Marauder’s no doubt had some schemes they were plotting for the afternoon before classes resumed tomorrow.

Lily spent the whole walk to the library telling me not to take what Severus says too seriously, that he was wary of strangers. 

I assumed she was saying these things because of what the boys had told me about him thus far, but I was never one to judge someone before I met them personally.

“I’m sure he’s great, Lily.” I said with a warm smile.

When we had arrived, Lily led me to a table near the back of the library, a boy our age sat there who I vaguely remember from the train ride.

Upon hearing our steps, the boy looked up giving Lily a small smile before it died instantly on his lips. His eyes bore into mine like I was some sort of intruder in his home.

“What’s she doing here?” Severus said with an icy tone.

Lily dropped her things on the table giving her friend a nervous smile.

“You remember her from the train right, Sev?” Lily’s hopeful voice was met by a dull stare, he obviously purged me from his memory.

Lily almost looked embarrassed when she turned to me, the meeting she must have formed in her head going better than it currently was.

But I was never one to let an icy first impression turn me away, afterall I was intruding on their time.

“It’s alright Lily, the name is Accalia Sharpe.” I said smoothly, feeling that a handshake would be turned down immediately.

At the sound of my name meeting his ears, he seemed to perk up a bit.

“Sharpe? As in the purebloods?” Severus hummed out.

I wanted to grit my teeth at how people revered pureblood supremacy, but I managed to turn it into a tight lip smile.

“One in the same.” I muttered.

All Severus did was hum in slight interest, the sound reminding me of crunching gravel.

I wasted no time in pulling out my books and joining them at the table silently as Severus started tutoring Lily in Potions. I listened to the low rumble of Severus’ voice as I finished up my transfiguration homework that's due tomorrow, the scratching of my quill only adding to the soft warm sounds of the library.

I knew Severus didn’t trust me based on the people I hung out with, and I couldn’t necessarily blame him. From the stories Lily told me, they weren’t very nice to him, but then again, he retaliated right back. Maybe it was just a vicious circle neither group wanted to break.

I could tell just by watching Lily and Severus that the boy was hopelessly in love with her, just as James was. I couldn’t blame them, she was a kind and beautiful girl that had a snap to her. Not to mention she was a prefect and probably on her way to being Head Girl.

“Hey, Lia? You’re a genius when it comes to Care of Magical Creatures right?” Lily asked gently as she poured over her notes for the class.

I couldn’t help the bright smile that crossed my face or hide that fact that I was indeed very proficient in the course.

“I am indeed. Did you have questions about something?”

“Yeah, me and Sev are taking it and to be honest don’t know where to start with our paper on Thestrals. Remus said that you help out Professor Kettleburn in your guys class and that you could actually see them?” 

I knew Lily’s question was innocent, just as it had been when the boys had asked her. But it always drudged up a past you wanted to stay buried.

“I can. What questions do you guys have?” I said as professionally as I could.

It turned out that they needed more of a mini-lecture than the few questions Lily made it out to be, but I obliged them and let them look through my book to read the notes I had on the subject as I lectured. By the end they had pretty much already completed the assignment with all the information I had given them. 

Surprisingly neither of them brought up the fact of  _ why _ I could see thestrals, they obviously had gathered that I had seen someone die, that was apparent, but they didn’t ask more than that, and to be honest I was relieved. I didn’t want to relive the moment of my parents death again as I had with the boys. I barely made it out of that class with my emotions still in check.

The three of us had barely noticed that dinner had long since passed as we packed our things away, the sad grumbles of our stomachs would go unsatisfied tonight. But as we parted ways and Lily gave me a hug goodbye, Severus surprised me as he shook my hand, giving me a clipped  _ thanks _ before turning and sulking away.

As I walked outside, a part of me was hopeful that I had the potential of making a new friend, but the rational part of me knew that as long as I was friends with the Marauders, I would only ever be passing acquaintances with Severus. The thought passed quickly, however, as I let out a loud yawn, stretching out before I morphed into my animagus form.

The night air chilled my paws as I ran over to the familiar tree I had now spent a full week in, things were still not ideal, but they could be worse. I was finally entering the peaceful emptiness of sleep before my keen ears picked up the sound of shoes crunching against leaves, but the sound morphed into something softer. A sound I was all too familiar with.

The sound of pawpads treading through the grass and the leaves had me on high alert, hopefully whatever it was didn’t notice me as I remained still. My eyes were still closed as I was too afraid that if I opened them that the glow would give me away. But the sound only got closer before I heard the sniffing of a dogs nose, it was only a matter of time before it found me so I opened my eyes to watch it.

The minute I did, my position became clear to the scrappy black dog. The ebony fur almost reminded me of my own but mine was obviously more taken care of. The dog barked once softly, causing me to arch my back in anger, hopefully it would sense my irritation and leave. But something unexpected happened that I couldn’t have predicted.

At my reaction, the dog transformed before my eyes into none other than Sirius Black. I was so shocked that I only stared at him in wonder. 

_ Sirius Black was an animagus? _

The thought was short lived as the boy cooed at me, telling me he wasn’t going to hurt me.

Part of me wanted to reveal myself, but the other side was too embarrassed by the fact that I would have to explain why exactly I was out here, and I wasn’t exactly ready for that.

But life, it seemed, had a funny way of forcing me into things that I didn’t want to do. In this case Sirius Black swiftly climbed the tree after me, grabbing me in his firm hand and easily overpowering me in the struggle.

“Stop it! I’m just trying to help you!” he hissed as he stuffed me in his robe.

My growling did nothing to dissuade him from taking me back to the castle. My mind was coming up with a million things that he was planning on doing with me, most of them ending with me being weaponized for one of the boys dumb pranks.

But as I heard him utter the password for Gryffindor tower, my heart sped up in my chest and I started to struggle again. I should definitely not be here.

But my struggle was fruitless as we continued up to the boys dormitory, the sound of a door opening and closing only sealing the dread I felt.

“Hey guys! Look, I found this cat!” Sirius said in a loud whisper, presenting me swiftly from his robes.

When my eyes finally adjusted to the room, it wasn’t as scary as I imagined it. Lucky for me they were all in their pajamas, fully clothed. 

“Found it, or stole it?” James said from his bed, his glasses perched on the tip of his nose as he read over his Charms book.

“Found it.” Sirius repeated, enunciating the ‘t’ sharply.

“How do you know it doesn’t belong to anyone?” Remus’ voice rumbled, drawing my attention.

He sat perched on his bed, as if he was just getting ready to sleep, his blue eyes piercing into mine as he looked at me curiously. I had to admit I like the warm calmness in his voice that he had around the boys, no hint of a shy stutter to be heard.

“You know the rules, animals can’t wander on their own without their owner. Especially not after dark.” Sirius said, still holding me awkwardly under the armpits, letting me dangle.

“Poor thing looks terrified.” Peter said, coming into view, it looked like he wanted to pet me but part of him just couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“Well, I did find it in that big tree near the Black Lake. Probably almost got eaten by some creature.” Sirius huffed, obviously annoyed that he seemed to be the only one in the room that cared.

“Well, what do you want us to do with it?” James said, finally getting up from his bed and straightening his glasses.

He ran a hand over the top of my head and I couldn't stop the purr that left me, my traitorous body overpowering my mental capabilities.

“I say we keep it.” Sirius said with a big grin, as if it was obvious.

“B-but don’t cats eat rats?” Peter said nervously, a scared look in his eye.

Why would it matter if I did? Did Peter own a rat?

“Don’t worry, Wormtail, she won’t eat you.” Sirius said, finally righting me in his arms as he held me like a baby, my belly facing up.

“She?” Remus said, his curiosity getting the better of him as he joined the group standing around me.

“Yeah, she's feisty too. Kept fighting me the whole way here.” Sirius said as he tickled my belly, earning a gentle nip from me as I started wrestling with his hand. But I stopped when the strangest thing happened.

Remus leaned in close and  _ sniffed  _ me. Not too close for it to be super weird but strange enough that I gave him a weird look as I cocked my head to the side, earning a grin from the boy.

“Sorry, kitty.” he said, giving me a scratch behind the ears, causing me to purr more aggressively and rub my head into his hand.

“She smells familiar though.” Remus said with an odd look on his face.

Sirius met Remus’ look with a wide eyed stare.

“That’s what I thought too! I followed the smell out there and found this cat, weird.”

James shrugged his shoulders, not picking up on their apparent keen sense of smell which confused me to no end. I get how Sirius could smell me, being an animagus, but did that mean that Remus was as well? Were all of them?

“Well, if we keep her she’s gonna need a name—” 

My ears perked up at the statement tumbling from James' lips, as if sirens started going off in my head bringing me to the present. So I struggled violently in Sirius’ arms barely getting away before I collapsed on the ground, as a  _ human _ . 

“No one is keeping me or naming me something pathetic like mittens! Accalia is just fine!” I said breathless as I took in the shocked faces around me.

“Lia?”

_ Oh shit. _

Well, it had to happen eventually didn’t it? And if I was being honest with myself, I had let this all go too far anyways. They were going to find out at some point and I wasn’t about to let them lock me in here for the night and have me accidentally see something I didn’t want to see.

I let out a strangled laugh before answering.

“Ta-dah?”

The group seemed at a loss for words as they all gaped at me like fish out of water. All of them looked to be going through the stages of denial as they looked at me, Remus was even blushing furiously as he combed a shaky hand through his hair.

“I thought you smelt familiar.” he mumbled under his breath, but the statement echoed in the silent room.

“I thought it was you I smelt, but I thought ‘no way, you must have been out here previously.’” Sirius said rapidly, his hands waving around as he spoke.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” James said, shock still registering on his face.

I pulled myself up slowly onto the spare bed I was leaning against.

“Why didn’t you tell  _ me _ ?” I challenged back.

They all dropped my gaze at those words, suddenly finding the floor very interesting.

“You’re a dog Sirius! All of my unknowing dog jokes suddenly make sense. I thought I was going crazy with how hard you all laughed.” I said, breathless with how unbelievable this all was.

Sirius looked at me with a small grin, that cocky smile slowly returning.

“Peter?” I turned to the boy, the big question hanging in the air.

“I’m a rat.” he said quietly, almost as if he was slightly embarrassed.

I had to pause as a small smile crossed my face, it fit him perfectly.

“No wonder you were worried about me eating you!” 

Peter chuckled with me as did the rest, a slow ease of tension falling.

“Before you ask, I’m a stag.” James said, puffing out his chest slightly.

“Awww, Bambi.” I said with a coo, pinching his cheeks before he smacked my hands away.

“Oi, don’t call me Bambi.” James said with a pointed finger.

I raised my hands up in defense as I couldn't stop laughing, even Sirius and Peter were sniggering like fools. Remus eventually lost his composure as we all started mumbling ‘Bambi’ in between laughs.

“Okay, okay. I think we tortured you enough.” I finally said, giving James a break.

He still tried to pout but I could see the hook of a smile pulling at his lips.

But that just left one person, the other three boys turned to him, a soft look on their face.

Remus couldn’t meet my eyes, his face turned away as if he was struggling with a decision.

“Remus, if you don’t want to—” I started before I was cut off suddenly.

I couldn’t process what he whispered as he practically said it to the wall. I stood up from the bed, slowly and cautiously placing my hand on his shoulder which tensed under my touch.

“What did you say?”

His marred face rose to mine a look of absolute fear and terror behind his eyes, the kind that held thousands of rejections.

“I’m a werewolf.”

I couldn’t help the reaction of my hands flying to cover my shocked mouth, something that caused him to flinch and look away as if he was ready for me to spit on him. But the words that left my mouth were anything but.

“Holy shit that’s amazing.”

The look of absolute bewilderment crossed Remus’ face, as if he heard me but thought he hallucinated it.

“Come again?” 

The rest of the boys burst into a fit of their own giggles at their friend.

“I think you just made this nerd's dream come true.” Sirius said to Remus as he bumped my shoulder with his, Remus finally looking back at me and seeing a gleam of amazement in my eye.

“I’m sorry, I know I shouldn't be excited because I’m sure you never wanted it to happen, it's just—” I was at a loss of words as I looked at him.

I felt like a bumbling fool saying all the wrong words.

“Let me start over.” I said taking a deep breath, slowly reaching towards one of Remus’ hands.

When he let me take it hesitantly, I continued.

“Nothing could change my opinion about you, I think you are amazing, kind, and have a warm heart. I would be a fool to throw a friendship away over something like this.”

I could tell my words calmed him instantly, maybe not totally, but enough for him to squeeze my hand in thanks.

“Plus, I could never hate my space heater.” I said with a cheeky wink getting a small laugh out of him.

“Well now that that’s out of the way, you want to tell us what you were doing out there sleeping in a tree?” Sirius said, his arms crossing over his chest.

All eyes turned on me once more as I fell under their magnified gaze.

Guess it was time to come clean.


End file.
